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4 Things You Need to Know About Delta-Plus

As the delta surge ebbs attention is turning to a n offshoot of the highly contagious coronavirus variant

Diy13 / Getty Images Delta’s summertime surge is finally abating. New cases of caused by the highly contagious coronavirus variant are nearly half of what they were at their peak in early September. And hospitalizations and deaths are also dwindling. But that doesn’t mean delta’s power is fading. It still accounts for more than 99 percent of COVID cases in the U.S., according to (CDC). What’s more, it’s giving rise to new versions of the virus, including one, called delta-plus (or AY.4.2), that’s captured the attention of experts. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Here’s what we know so far about delta’s descendant.

1 It s an offshoot of delta

Viruses change and evolve as they replicate — that’s expected — and when one or more of these changes sticks, a variant is born. What makes delta-plus different from the that have popped up since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, however, is that it’s not a variation of the original virus strain. Rather, it’s derived from delta, the dominant variant circulating throughout the globe. “You had the original strain , and anytime a new variant came up all it had to do was outcompete that original strain. And then you had several variants all circulating more or less at the same time,” explains Richard Kennedy, professor of medicine and codirector of the Mayo Clinic Vaccine Research Group. “Nowadays, almost all of the cases, at least in the U.S. and in the U.K., are delta. So 99 percent of the variants that we're going to see now are going to be variants of delta, not variants of the original strain.”
AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. it can cause more severe illness than other variants, especially in not fully vaccinated individuals , who account for about 40 percent of the U.S. population. Entertainment $3 off popcorn and soft drink combos See more Entertainment offers > Delta can also evade some of the immune response that’s generated after vaccination, although the vaccines are still highly effective at preventing hospitalization and death.
“So that means any new variants, if they come from delta, they already have that background,” Kennedy says, which “makes it more likely that they're going to be a bigger problem than a variant that shows up that was a variant from the original strain.”
Preliminary research shows that delta-plus is about 10 to 15 percent more transmissible than delta, says Ashish Jha, M.D., dean of the Brown University School of Public Health .

3 Spread of delta-plus has been slow so far br

Delta-plus isn’t causing too much concern yet , and its slightly higher transmissib ility rate isn't alarming in itself, says Jha . By comparison, the delta variant is twice as contagious as other variants, including alpha, which was the previous dominant variant in the U.S. And , where delta-plus’s presence has been slowly increasing since July, suggests that the vaccines “are holding up just fine” against it, Jha adds, though research is ongoing. AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. are not 100 percent effective at preventing a coronavirus infection, that fully vaccinated people are significantly less likely to be infected. “If we can reduce the number of cases significantly, we've reduced the chance of having a delta-plus-plus or whatever we decide to name the granddaughter of delta,” Kennedy says. Other precautions can also help stymie the emergence of new variants: Wear a mask when you are in crowded, indoor settings; wash your hands often; and if you’re , get it. “What you have to do is put multiple layers of protection in place,” Kennedy adds.
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