Coronavirus Delta variant: Everything to know about this variant of concern

Coronavirus Delta variant: The Public Health England (PHE) has said in its latest risk assessment of variants of coronavirus that a whopping 61% of the sequenced samples are that of the Delta variant, which was first detected in India. This means that the Delta variant has become the most dominant variant in the country, surpassing even the Alpha variant that had caused a surge of cases in the UK last year. Among the many variants of coronavirus that are present, the B.1.617 lineage had been detected in India a few months ago, and as per studies, the sub-lineage of this variant – the B.1.617.2 Delta variant – transmits more than its peer variants.

Catch live updates on coronavirus here

The variant has now been marked as a variant of concern by the WHO, as outbreaks related to this variant are being reported from several countries.

SARS-CoV-2 is an RNA virus which has 30,000 base pairs of amino acids, and an alteration in any of these base can lead to a mutation in the virus, changing its shape as well as the behaviour. In the Delta variant, there are multiple mutations in the spike protein, of which at least four are important – L452R, P681R, D614G, and T478K – because they all have evidence of higher transmission or infectivity.

According to PHE, cases of Delta variant are increasing in the country, as against a decline in the Alpha ones, and apart from this, Delta also has a higher secondary attack rate as compared to Alpha. The PHE has also said that analyses from England and Scotland indicate that while two doses work better than one in providing protection against Delta variant, there is a reduced effectiveness of vaccines against Delta as compared to Alpha. It also found that for the Delta variant, the cases of reinfection remain relatively very low as against the Alpha variant.