Even as more countries confirmed the prevalence of highly transmissible variants of Covid-19 led by Britain where the Delta variant accounts for 99 per cent of the total active Covid cases, a more lethal mutated virus, a ‘variant of concern’ lurks over India.
“Delta Plus variant, a mutated version of the more aggressive B.1.617.2 strain that drove the second wave of infections, is undergoing an additional mutation called K417N. It could become a “variant of concern” if unchecked,” warned AIIMS Chief Dr Randeep Guleria, adding that India needs to learn from the UK where the said variant is causing a surge in cases.
In fact, while a few cases of Variant of Concerns have been reported from India’s Maharashtra, Manipur and Mizoram, earlier this week, the Maldives and Myanmar confirmed transmission of Variants of Concern, joining the list of Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste.
And, as more and more States ease lockdown restrictions and people move out from the home due to social and economic reasons while ignoring Covid-norms, Dr Guleria feared that India could see a faster surge if aggressive Covid-appropriate behaviour is not followed. He also insisted on aggressive surveillance to guard against any spike in the Covid cases following unlocking in parts of the country.
In fact, Maharashtra has already reported cases of Delta plus variants, sources in Mizoram said that four cases of Delta variant have been registered from Aizawl district. PNS
Ditto with Manipur. Manipur chief minister, N Biren Singh while speaking at a function in Imphal said, “Recently 20 samples were tested in Hyderabad based laboratory and around 18 samples were found of variant. Spread of cases in Manipur is due to Delta variant”.
Dr Guleria pointed out that “Delta plus is a variant which is of same lineage as Delta variant, with a slight change as there is one more mutation found, which could be a cause of concern because this mutation, the K417N, is something which may change the virus to some extent as far as its infectivity is concerned...
“What we need to do is observe. Currently, the WHO has said that this is a variant of interest but it could become a variant of concern because currently the number of cases is less. Will this Delta plus again become the dominant variant that is something that we need to observe over the next few weeks,” said Dr Guleria in an interview to a news channel.
The B.1.617.2 variant is characterised as being highly infectious. The spike protein is what helps the virus enter and infect human cells, and the K417N mutation has been associated with immune escape, or evasion, that leaves it less susceptible, or more immune, to the vaccine or any form of drug therapy.
There is need to ramp up genome sequencing, said Dr Guleria, to see if there are more of Delta or Delta plus cases and how the virus is behaving in terms of these two variants in the community.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Sunday called upon countries in WHO South-East Asia Region to scale up and rigorously implement public health and social measures, along with efforts to accelerate vaccination for Covid-19, to prevent another surge, as more countries confirmed prevalence of highly transmissible variants of concerns.
“We need to continuously strengthen our efforts to test, trace and isolate. Societal interventions such as physical distancing, hand hygiene and proper wearing of masks need to be stringently implemented. These measures should be in full force and for longer periods in areas reporting more transmissible variants of concerns,” said Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia.
