BY Anoushka Singh Kuswaha ’24
Staff Writer
While students settle back into campus life, the delta variant is an increasingly large threat. Currently, the delta variant is the predominant cause of COVID-19 cases rising in the United States. According to an article published online by Yale Medicine, The delta variant is a highly contagious strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. It was first identified in India in December 2020. It rapidly spread and dominated the virus cases of India and the United Kingdom before arriving in the U.S. in March.
Delta is a cause for concern as it has once again increased a once-falling number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations around the U.S. The delta variant is twice as contagious as other strains of the virus: alpha, first identified in the United Kingdom; beta, first identified in South Africa; and gamma, first identified at a Japanese airport in travelers from Brazil.
In addition to the delta variant, several other strains are being monitored by the World Health Organization. One of these strains is the mu variant, which was first discovered in Colombia in January 2021 and remains pervasive in the country. Although the WHO has since identified the mu variant in over 39 countries, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a press briefing on Sept. 2 that mu is not “an immediate threat.” As of Sept. 15, over five thousand cases have been detected worldwide.
A study published in the Lancet indicates that the delta variant is more likely to cause hospitalization in those who are unvaccinated in comparison to the other variants. Those who are not vaccinated are most at risk, and the highest spread and most severe cases are occurring in places with the lowest vaccination rates, such as Missouri, Nevada and Arkansas. Rising cases in these states may also be influenced by the lifting of restrictions.
The delta variant is a further cause for concern as younger people — teenagers and adults under 50 — seem to be particularly at risk. Dr. Inci Yildirim, a Yale Medicine pediatric infectious disease specialist, stated in an interview for an online article for the Yale Medicine website, “delta seems to be impacting younger age groups more than previous variants.”
Scientists still have much to learn about the delta variant. What is clear, however, is that the variant is twice as likely — in comparison to the alpha variant — to result in hospitalization in unvaccinated individuals.
The symptoms associated with delta are slightly different. According to Dr. Yildirim, those infected with the variant are less likely to report symptoms such as coughing and a loss of smell. A survey conducted in the U.K., which found more than 90 percent of COVID-19 cases were due to the delta variant as of September 2021, concluded that headaches, sore throat, runny nose and fever are more commonly reported symptoms.
All currently FDA-approved vaccinations have been found to prevent either symptomatic disease or hospitalization from the delta variant. In August, the Biden administration stated that pending FDA approval, they will offer all fully-vaccinated Americans vaccine booster shots in an effort to control the rising number of cases and hospitalizations. This development has emerged due to the rapid spread of the delta variant and a CDC study suggesting that vaccine protection against infection is waning. Current CDC data suggests that while vaccinations are still consistently preventing hospitalizations, their effectiveness against the spread of infection is deteriorating, going from 91.7 percent to 79.8 percent in New York state as of September 2021.
Nonetheless, many health officials and members of the public are debating the necessity of vaccine booster shots, especially in consideration of the desperate lack of vaccines in different parts of the world.
The delta variant has also recently mutated into a subvariant, known as delta plus, which has been found in the U.S. and the United Kingdom. Delta plus has one mutation from the original delta. The mutation affects the spike protein that the virus needs in order to infect cells, which is the main target for mRNA and other vaccines.
Much is unknown about the delta plus mutation, which was first discovered in India. More data is required in order to understand the rate of infection and the impact of this variant on the human population.