The So-Called Delta Plus Variant of COVID-19 Is Dangerous But Appears Unlikely to Be a Game-Changer

As if the already worrisome Delta variant, first identified in India, wasn’t concerning enough, now there’s Delta Plus. The latest variant of SARS-CoV-2 was announced by Indian health officials in late June, and labelled by the Indian government as a variant of concern. By June 24, only about 40 cases of Delta Plus infections were reported by Indian health officials, based on genetic sequencing of the virus from positive patients. But given the original Delta strain’s ability to transmit more efficiently from person to person, and to potentially cause more severe disease, health authorities are rightly raising concern. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Delta Plus contains an additional mutation called K417N, in the part of the spike protein of the virus that binds to cells to start infection. But, says Dr. Ravindra Gupta, professor of clinical microbiology at the Cambridge Institute for Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Diseases who has been genetically sequencing SARS-CoV-2 and studying its genetic evolution, “I predict 417 is not an important enough mutation. Delta is bad enough as it is and I don’t think 417 will change [it] that much or become dominant.” That’s because the 417 mutation isn’t new. Gupta says he has also found it in other major variants of the virus, including the B.1.1.7, or Alpha, variant, that was first identified in the U.K., and the B.1.351 or Beta variant first reported in South Africa. &l...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 Source Type: news