CHENNAI: The preliminary report of the whole genome sequencing analysis of SARS-CoV2 released by the State Health Department on Sunday showed that widespread infection in Tamil Nadu during the second wave was caused by the Delta variant.
The Delta variant is more transmissible than the parent virus and World Health Organisation (WHO) categorised it as a variant of concern (VOC). It is the cause of widespread infection in India and in many other countries.
According to the Health Department report, out of 554 samples tested from the period December, 2020 and May, 2021, 386 (70 per cent) samples were found to be Delta Variant (B.1.617.2) followed by Alpha variant ((B.1.1.7) 47 (8.5 per cent).
The Delta variant was seen predominantly in community clusters (30 per cent) and family clusters (23 per cent).
It was predominantly reported among the adolescent and adults, above 12 years of age (81 per cent) compared to children (19 per cent).
Among 554 samples, 96 were children up to 12 years, among them 73 (76 per cent) had Delta variant.
Also, among 554 samples, 66 were vaccine breakthrough cases and among them 55 (83 per cent) had Delta variant, the report said.
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