One COVID-19 case of an asymptomatic male patient in Mysuru has been found to have the delta plus variant of the virus. Dr V Ravi, Chairman of the Covid-19 Genomic Surveillance Committee, confirmed the development.
"This variant is not more transmissible. These are just rumours on social media. All we know is that the monoclonal antibody therapy does not work on patients infected with this variant. It is not a cause of concern," said Dr Ravi who is also the nodal officer for genomic sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 in Karnataka and retired professor, NIMHANS.
Health and Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar said that two cases of the delta plus variant have been found in Karnataka as of June 22. One of the samples tested at NCBS is actually from Tamil Nadu and hence Karnataka has only one case.
"As of now, there is no information that this variant is more severe or transmissible than the existing delta variant. The variant is being studied further," Dr Sudhakar said.
The B.1.617 variant was detected in October 2020 and in a span of two months, it mutated to B.1.617.2, commonly called the delta variant, said Dr Vishal Rao, Regional Director - Head Neck Surgical Oncology and Associate Dean - Centre of Academics and Research HCG Cancer Centre, who is also a member of the Covid-19 Genomic Surveillance Committee.
"We all know viruses tend to mutate and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research has found 8572 variants in India so far. We do not know the potential of the delta plus variant (AY.1) to cause the third wave but we need to be cautious. By itself it may not cause the next wave but it can mutate further leading to it. We do not know which variant will become the predominant one. The three causes of concern with variants are increased fatality, increased transmission and vaccine escape," Dr. Vishal Rao said, adding that the delta plus variant needs to be closely monitored.
He added that the Indian Council of Medical Research has found vaccines to be less effective against the P2 variant. Vaccine companies such as Pfizer are going back to the drawing board to prepare a COVID-19 vaccine effective against new variants, Dr. Rao added.
As of June 21, Karnataka has found 127 cases of the alpha variant from UK (B.1.1.7), 6 cases of beta variant (B.1.351) from South Africa, 318 cases of delta variant (B.1.617.2) from India and 112 cases of kappa variant (B.1.617.1) from India.