Delta variant accounts for 80 per cent of new Covid-19 cases: Govt expert panel chief

The Delta variant was primarily responsible for the second wave of Covid19 in the country accounting for over 80 per cent of new cases Dr N K Arora cochair of Indian SARSCoV2 Genomics Consortium said underlining that the cases may go up if a new more infectious variant comesThe variant is also around 4060 percent more transmissible than its predecessor Alpha variant and has already spread to more than 80 countries including the UK the US and SingaporeThe Delta Plus variant ldquoAY1 and AY2rdquo has so far been detected in 5560 cases across 11 states including Maharashtra Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh and is still being studied for its transmissibility virulence and vaccine escape characteristics Dr Arora said according to a Union Health Ministry statementAlso Read Majority of clinical cases of Covid19 breakthrough infection due to Delta variant ICMR studyThe Delta variant has mutations in its spike protein which helps it bind to the ACE2 receptors present on the surface of the cells more firmly making it more transmissible and capable of evading the bodys immunity Dr Arora saidThe B16172 a variant of Covid19 known as the Delta variant was first identified in October 2020 in India and was primarily responsible for the second wave in the country today accounting for over 80 percent of new Covid19 cases he saidIt emerged in Maharashtra and travelled northwards along the western states of the country before entering the central and the eastern statesOn whether it causes more severe disease as compared to other variants Dr Arora said there are studies that show that there are some mutations in this variant that promote syncytium formationBesides on invading a human cell it replicates faster It leads to a strong inflammatory response in organs like the lungs However it is difficult to say that disease due to delta variant is more severe The age profile and the deaths during the second wave in India were quite similar to that seen during first wave he statedThe Delta Plus variant AY1 and AY2 has so far been detected in 5560 cases across 11 states including Maharashtra Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh AY1 is also found in countries like Nepal Portugal Switzerland Poland Japan but AY2 is less prevalent The variant is still being studied for its transmissibility virulence and vaccines escape characteristics he saidDr Arora said current vaccines are effective against Delta variant as per the studies undertaken by ICMR on the issueOn some parts of the country still witnessing a spurt in the number of cases he said though there is a significant dip in the number of cases in most parts of the country some regions are witnessing a highTest Positivity Rate TPR particularly in the northeastern part and several districts in the southern states most of these cases could be due to the Delta variantOn whether future waves could be prevented Dr Arora said a virus begins infecting a part of the population which is most susceptible and also exposed to the infection It diminishes after it successfully infects a large proportion of the population and strikes back when the immunity developed in the people postnatural infection fadesThe cases may go up if a new more infectious variant comes In other words next wave will be driven by a virus variant to which significant proportion of population is susceptible he saidThe second wave is still going on Any future waves will be controlled and delayed if more and more people get vaccinated and most importantly people follow COVIDAppropriate Behaviour effectively especially till a substantial part of our population gets vaccinated he stressedPeople need to focus on vaccination and adherence to Covid appropriate behaviour to manage Covid19 he addedThere is a need to keep a strict vigil on the emergence of variants of concern and outbreaks so that they can be contained before they spread to a larger regionThe Indian SARSCoV2 Genomics Consortium INSACOG established in December 2020 was a consortium of 10 laboratories Recently 18 more laboratories became part of it he Dr Arora saidThe INSACOG is a consortium of 28 laboratories for whole genome sequencing in the context of Covid19 pandemic and was established on December 26 2020The idea is to have a strong network of laboratories to do genomic surveillance of the SARSCoV2 and correlate whole genomics sequencing WGS data with clinical and epidemiological data to see whether or not a variant is more transmissible causes more severe disease escaping immunity or causing breakthrough infections affecting vaccine efficacy and diagnosed by current diagnostic tests he saidThe National Center for Disease Control NCDC analyses this data The entire country has been divided into geographical regions and each lab is given the responsibility of one particular regionWe have formed 180190 clusters with around four districts in each cluster Regular random swab samples and samples of patients who develop severe illness vaccine breakthrough infections and other atypical clinical presentations are collected and sent to regional laboratories for sequencing The current capacity of the country is to sequence over 50000 samples per month earlier it was approximately 30000 samples he saidThe new mutationsvariants of concern are cultured and scientific studies are undertaken to see the impact on infectiousness virulence vaccine efficacy and immune escape propertiesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever