New mutation of coronavirus discovered in India

While experts do not define it as a cause for concern, they believe that it should be closely monitored.In total, 20 cases of infection were detected in one of the Indian states.

In India, in the state of Maharashtra, they discovered the spread of a new variant of the Indian strain of coronavirus, which was called "delta plus", according to The Hindustan Times (the previous version is called "delta").

In total, 20 cases of infection with a new mutation were identified in four districts of the state.

The Indian Ministry of Health said that the new strain is rather of interest to researchers and has not yet been categorized as a mutation of concern.

However, NDTV quoted the head of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Randeep Guleria, as warning that the strain could cause concern in the future if not studied. He explained that the resulting mutation could change the properties of the virus "in terms of contagiousness" and its behavior must be observed for several weeks.

The delta variant of the coronavirus was discovered in India in October last year. Since then, it has spread far beyond the borders of the country and has been identified in many countries, including Europe and Asia.

Gunzburg spoke about the "evil" Indian strain of coronavirus Society

The Indian strain also circulates in Russia. So, last week, the GISAID platform reported that the proportion of infections with this mutation in Russia exceeded 70%. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that almost 90% of COVID-19 cases in Moscow had an Indian strain. In addition, he noted that repeated cases of infection were recorded in the capital among those who had been ill or were vaccinated against coronavirus, and associated this with the spread of the Indian strain.

“The level of immunity in order to protect yourself from the Indian strain needs to be twice as high compared to the Wuhan one. Therefore, we see repeated diseases, we see diseases in those who have been vaccinated, ”Sobyanin said.

The fact that the delta variant behaves more aggressively was also agreed by the director of the Center. Gamalei Alexander Gintsburg. According to him, when infected with this strain, the disease proceeds “more lightning fast”, and the new mutation turned out to be “angrier” than the Wuhan one.

British scientists have reported that new strains of coronavirus, in particular the Indian variant, cause other symptoms of COVID-19 disease. According to them, now most often patients complain of headache, runny nose and sore throat.