New Mutation Of The Coronavirus Discovered

While the delta variant of Covid-19 was just recently discovered in India, where it led to an astronomical rise in cases around the world, another new mutation, called "delta plus" has emerged.

The new variant has been said to be a concerning case for health workers as they fear that the delta plus could potentially be more transmissible.

In the U.K., Public Health England noted in its last summary that routine scanning of Covid cases in the country - where the delta variant is now responsible for the bulk of new infections - has found about 40 cases of the newer variant, which has acquired the spike protein mutation K417N (delta plus.)

As of June 16, it was noted that about 83 cases of the delta plus variant had also been identified across the U.S. as well as Canada, India, Japan, Nepal, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland, and Turkey.

Just like other viruses, the coronavirus has repeatedly mutated since its emergence in China in 2019. So far, there have been a handful of variants that have emerged throughout the pandemic and have changed the virus's transmissibility, risk profile, and even symptoms.

Several of these variants, such as the "alpha" strain (previously the "Kent" or "British" variant) and then the delta variant, have turned into the dominant strains globally, hence the attention on delta plus.

The Indian Health Ministry reported on Wednesday that it had found about 40 cases of the delta plus variant with the K417N mutation. The ministry released a statement on Tuesday stating that INSACOG, a consortium of 28 laboratories genome sequencing the virus in India during the pandemic, had informed it that the delta plus variant has three worrying characteristics.

These characteristics are: 

Increased transmissibility

Stronger binding to receptors of lung cells

Potential reduction in monoclonal antibody response (which could reduce the efficacy of a lifesaving monoclonal antibody therapy given to some hospitalized Covid patients).

The Indian Health Ministry has alerted three states (Maharashtra, Kerala, and Madhya Pradesh) after the delta plus variant was detected in genome-sequenced samples from those areas.

The detection of a variation to the delta variant which is already largely responsible for India's horrific second wave of cases has given rise to fears that the country is ill-prepared for a potential third wave. Some experts are, however, urging calm.

A physician-epidemiologist and vaccines and health systems expert based in New Delhi, Dr. Chandrakant Lahariya, told the news on Thursday that while the government ought to pay close attention to the progress of the variant, there is still "no reason to panic."

"Epidemiologically speaking, I have no reason to believe that 'Delta plus' alters the current situation in a manner to accelerate or trigger the third wave," he said.

"If we go by the currently available evidence, Delta plus is not very different from Delta variant. It is the same Delta variant with one additional mutation. The only clinical difference, which we know till now, is that Delta plus has some resistance to monoclonal antibody combination therapy. And that is not a major difference as the therapy itself is investigational and few are eligible for this treatment."

Dr. Lahariya has advised the public to follow Covid protocols and ensure complete vaccination as soon as they can. A study from Public Health England released just last week revealed that two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines are highly effective against hospitalization from the delta variant.

The World Health Organization has also said it is tracking recent reports of a "delta plus" variant. In a briefing held last week, Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's Covid-19 technical lead said, "In some of the delta variants we've seen one less mutation or one deletion instead of an additional, so we're looking at all of it."