All about Delta Plus, new COVID variant found in India

The Union Health Ministry on Tuesday stated that COVID variant Delta has mutated into Delta Plus or AY.1 variant but it has not been classified as a variant of concern. According to the data, this variant nullifies the use of monoclonal antibody therapy.

Here is what we know about the new variant so far:

It variant is a mutated version of B.1.617.2 strain, which was the reason behind the deadly second wave of infections in India.

It is characterised by the K417N mutation in the spike protein of the SARS-CoV2 virus that causes the COVID-19 disease.

The virus enter and infect human cells with the help of spike protein and the K417N mutation has been associated with immune escape, or evasion.

It is less susceptible to the vaccine or any form of drug therapy.

The government on Tuesday said the ‘delta plus’ variant had been around since March this year.

According to Public Health England, 63 B.1.617.2 genomes with the K417N mutation have been identified so far, six of which are from India.

There are 36 confirmed ‘delta plus’ cases in the UK.

Blood plasma from a number of fully vaccinated individuals would have to be tested against this variant to establish if it shows any significant level of immune escape.

Vinod Scaria, another CSIR-IGIB scientist, said the K417N variant was more frequent in Europe, America and other Asian countries at this time.