New Delhi: The World Health Organization (WHO) named the B.1.617.2 strain of SARS-CoV-2 virus as Delta variant. The strain was responsible for spreading the second wave of corona virus in India. But now this Delta variant has also been transformed. Scientists have renamed it Delta Plus or AY.1 variant.

The Delta Plus variant is also resistant to monoclonal antibody cocktail treatment. This treatment method has recently been approved by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO). According to a genomic sequencing expert, the spike mutation K417N of the Delta (B.1.617.2) sequence can be found in GISAID. So far this genome has been found in 10 countries. This sequence has recently made a new reproduction which is AY.1 (B.1.617.2.1). It is a deltrain genus virus (sublineage). K417N is a mutation that is also found in beta variants (B.1.351).

As of June 6, the Delta Plus variant has been found in eight genomes in India, according to the latest data from Public Health England. The health agency also said that the Delta variant has 73 genomes, including the new K417N mutation. According to a scientist at CSIR and Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) in Delhi, the rapidly transmitted variant B.1.617.2.1, also known as AY.1, contains K417N mutations. The spike protein of SARS-COV-2 virus is responsible for this. This is the spike protein that enters human cells and causes the virus to infect. Although K417N is not very widespread in India at present. On the contrary, it is more prevalent in Europe, Asia and America. No Delta Plus variant has yet been reported to have traveled. In fact, these sequences are being reported from around the world, in addition to India, such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Russia, Japan, Portugal, Poland, Turkey, Nepal, and Switzerland.