MUNCIE, Ind. — In recent weeks, the delta variant, a more easily transmissible and potentially more harmful strain of COVID-19, has become the dominant variant of the virus in the United States and has entered Indiana.
But what exactly is a variant? Are vaccines protective against them? How do providers know when you have a variant?
Dr. Ritika Zijoo, an infectious disease provider and member of the Infection Prevention Committee at IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital, answers basic questions about the delta variant. Here’s what you need to know:
What causes a virus variant?
When a virus replicates itself, the process can sometimes lead to changes, Zijoo said. As those changes occur, variants can develop. As the virus continues to mutate, more variants can be created, with some becoming more dominant than others.
“In this sense, the virus is spreading at a higher rate, so the chances of those changes are higher,” Zijoo said. “Therefore, we see more variants when there is more replication.”
They are small changes in the virus, and according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), some variants allow the virus to spread more easily or make it resistant to treatments or vaccines.
So far, the COVID-19 virus has gone through a variety of variants, including alpha, beta, gamma and now delta. The Indianapolis Star reported that a lambda variant has been recently discovered in Peru by the World Health Organization.
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What are officials seeing in the delta variant?
Compared to other variants of COVID-19, Zijoo said the delta variant is more transmissible. Discovered in India in December 2020, the strain quickly became the dominant variant in both India and Great Britain.
“If someone gets this infection, they’re able to transmit it to more people at a faster rate,” Zijoo said.
Research shows that the delta variant is 60% more transmissible than the alpha variant, the previous dominant strain. And according to the CDC, the delta variant makes up 83% of all new sequenced cases in the United States.
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Zijoo said that research is still being done on what makes the delta variant so transmissible, with one hypothesis suggesting that a carrier of the COVID-19’s delta variant sheds more of the virus when coming in contact with people, rather than just shedding the virus in the early stages of contracting it. Therefore, those with the delta variant might be shedding virus particles longer.
Symptoms for the delta variant might also look a little different compared to past strains.
In the Indianapolis Star report, it was noted that the ZOE COVID Symptom study now lists headache, sore throat, runny nose, and fever with persistent cough as the top symptoms now that the delta variant has become the dominant strain circulating. Loss of smell was ranked number nine and shortness of breath ranked number 30.
Who is the delta variant impacting?
Just as at the start of the pandemic, Zijoo said anyone can contract COVID-19, no matter their age, race or gender.
At the beginning of the pandemic in spring 2020, the virus seemed to have a heavier impact on older populations, especially when it came to symptoms and death rates. Now, that might be changing.
“What has changed in the demographics now is that a majority of the elderly population is vaccinated; therefore, they are more protected,” Zijoo said. “Vaccination doesn’t prevent infection from the COVID-19 virus 100%, but it does provide significant immunity, it prevents severe infection and it prevents hospitalizations.”
RELATED: Delaware County COVID-19 vaccine tracker: 38% of people fully vaccinated
In Delaware County, 44,329 people were fully vaccinated as of Friday afternoon, making up only about 38% of the population. According to the Indiana State Department of Health’s vaccine dashboard, the group with the most fully vaccinated individuals is the 60-64 and 65-69 age range, both with 10.1% vaccination rates.
The 70-74 age group followed with 9.2%, and then the 80 and older group with 8.9%. The lowest fully vaccinated group remains in school-aged children, ages 12-15 at 1.9% and ages 16-19 at 3.4%.
“I think the vaccinations have changed who the patients that we’re seeing coming into the hospital with COVID-19 are,” Zijoo said. “The people that are coming in now are the unvaccinated populations.”
Is the delta variant in Delaware County?
As the delta variant becomes the most prominent strain of COVID-19 in the United States, plenty of confirmed cases have appeared in Indiana.
On Friday, the Indianapolis Star reported about 70% of the positive COVID-19 samples tested in July have been the delta variant. According to the state’s COVID-19 dashboard, this is an increase of nearly 40% from June.
Zijoo told The Star Press that hospitals and clinics don’t test for variants themselves, but rather, testing is done through the state health department.
For example, she said if a vaccinated patient came to the hospital and tested positive for COVID-19, Ball Memorial team members could then send a report to the state health department, and they would conduct their own testing.
But has the delta variant shown up in Delaware County?
In the Indianapolis Star’s report, state health officials declined in an email to provide county-level specifics about the delta variant. This was because only a small percentage of samples are sent for sequencing, and therefore, cannot give an accurate view of how widespread the variant is.
However, the variant has been found in samples sequenced from almost every county, state health officials said.
“If we haven’t seen it yet, it is going to be seen,” Zijoo said. “There is no way that the delta variant is not going to be the dominant variant across the country, because we’ve seen that happen in other countries as well.”
Do vaccines protect against variants?
Whether it be Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson, Zijoo said studies have shown COVID-19 vaccines are preventing severe symptoms and hospitalizations from the delta variant.
The majority of COVID-19 patients, both at Ball Memorial and around the country, are unvaccinated individuals. The main preventative measure against COVID-19 are vaccines, Zijoo said.
She’s urging anyone who has been against vaccination or who hasn’t been vaccinated yet to get their shot.
“Because when we get vaccinated, not only do we decrease the risk of getting the infection ourselves, we decrease the rate of transmission in case we get impacted,” Zijoo said. “We overall decrease the replication of the virus and overall transmission within the community.”
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As schools release their back-to-school plans, many are dropping mask mandates and are not requiring vaccines. Since vaccines are only approved for ages 12 and older, Zijoo said it’s hard to predict, but the quickly spreading delta variant may become a concern further into the school year.
For those who are still unsure, Zijoo suggest speaking with a provider about vaccines to become more comfortable with the idea.
“I think the most important thing that the community needs to know is that the vaccines are safe. The vaccines are effective,” Zijoo said. “The vaccines haves been noted to be effective against the delta variant, and we have multiple vaccines available.”
Charlotte Stefanski is a reporter at the Star Press. Contact her at 765-283-5543, cstefanski@muncie.gannett.com or follow her on twitter @CharStefanski.
