‘Delta plus’ could be more contagious than delta mutations

An analysis showed that a variant of the Corona 19 virus called ‘delta plus’ can spread more easily than the existing delta variant.

The UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) has upgraded the delta plus mutation to “the mutation under investigation” to reflect this risk, the BBC reported on the 23rd.

The UKHSA said there is still no evidence that delta plus mutations are more likely to cause aggravation, and that current COVID-19 vaccines still protect people from infection and aggravation.

Currently, the delta mutation is causing most of the COVID-19 infections in the UK, but the number of infections in ‘Delta Plus (AY.4.2)’ is also increasing. According to recent official data from the UK, 6% of COVID-19 cases are infections caused by Delpha Plus.

Experts believe that it is unlikely that Telta Plus has significantly changed from the existing virus or that it is outside the scope of the existing coronavirus vaccine defense. However, based on some initial data, it is pointed out that Delta Plus may have a faster rate of virus growth compared to conventional delta variants.

The UKHSA official said: “In recent months, there is early evidence that Delta+ has become more common in the UK and that the ratio of infected people in the UK to Delta has increased.”

However, unlike delta variants, delta plus has not yet been assigned the highest risk category, the “variant of interest”.

There are thousands of variants of the coronavirus that spread worldwide. Viruses change all the time, so it’s no surprise that new mutations emerge. AY.4.2 is a type of Delta mutation that contains several new mutations that affect the spike protein the virus uses to penetrate our cells.

In addition to AY.4.2, mutations such as Y145H and A222V have also been found in a variety of other coronavirus strains since the early days of the pandemic. Currently, some cases of Delta Plus infection have been confirmed in the United States. There were some cases in Denmark as well, but it has decreased since then.

The UK is already implementing a booster dose of the coronavirus vaccine to increase the effectiveness of prevention in high-risk groups ahead of winter. UKHSA’s attitude is that it is not necessary to update from an existing vaccine to a new vaccine to prevent mutated viruses.

Dr Jenny Harries, UKHSA, said: “Public health authorities’ immunization recommendations are now the same for all variants. said.

Dr. Harris also said, “In crowded places, you should wear a mask and open windows and doors to ventilate the room when meeting people indoors. do,” he advised.

Song Myung, a medical reporter emmy21@nvp.co.kr