Delta Plus is a Variant of Concern

Delta Plus is a Variant of Concern

Subject : Science & tech

Context : Addressing at the 29th Group of Ministers meeting, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan has said that Delta plus is a variant of concern and special surveillance is being done in the 12 States wherein these variants have been detected.

Concept :

Variants of Interest (VoI) and Variants of Concern (VoC)

• When the mutations happen – if there is any previous association with any other similar variant which is felt to have an impact on public health – then it becomes a Variant under Investigation.
• Once genetic markers are identified which can have association with receptor binding domain or which have an implication on antibodies or neutralizing assays, we start calling them as Variants of Interest.
• The moment we get evidence for increased transmission through field-site and clinical correlations, it becomes a Variant of Concern.

Variants of concern are those that have one or more of the following characteristics:

• Increased transmissibility
• Change in virulence/ disease presentation
• Evading the diagnostics, drugs and vaccines
• The 1st Variant of Concern was announced by the UK where it was found. Currently there are four variants of concern identified by the scientists – Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta.

Delta Plus variant

• Delta Plus or AY.1 is one of the emerging variants of Delta or B.1.617.2 variant of SARS-CoV-2.
• The new variant is characterized by the acquisition of K417N mutation, said Vinod Scaria, clinician and scientist, Delhi’s CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB).
• The mutant K417N is found in the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. The spike protein enables the entry of the virus into the human cells.
• So far, 63 genomes of Delta (B.1.617.2) with the new K417N mutation have been detected on the global science initiative GISAID, as per Public Health England.
• In its latest report, as of June 7, the Delta plus variant was found in six genomes from India.
• The variant frequency for K417N mutation is not much in India as of now. The sequences are mostly from Asia, America, and Europe.