First case of delta-plus, ‘double-whammy’ variant of COVID, detected in Louisiana | Coronavirus

The delta variant of COVID-19 has spawned a new, troubling variant known as delta-plus that has been identified for the first time in Louisiana, according to officials at Ochsner Health.

Delta-plus is thought to have the same higher rate of transmission as the delta variant, which was originally identified in India and is about two times as infectious as the original coronavirus strain. But it also has a characteristic of variants from South Africa and Brazil that makes it harder for antibodies to block it from entering cells.

“It gives you a double whammy,” said Dr. Lucio Miele, who has been part of the sequencing effort in his lab at LSU Health New Orleans. “It’s a more infectious virus and it’s a virus that is not as easily neutralized by antibodies.”

Vaccinated people are still protected from this variant because the vaccine stamps out the coronavirus in a number of ways. But there doesn’t seem to be a complete blockage of transmission. In other words, a vaccinated person may be able to spread the delta variant, even if they are not showing symptoms, said Miele, citing evidence of such cases in Singapore. 

And because of the differences present in delta-plus, unvaccinated people with “natural immunity” who have been infected with COVID in the past should not rely on prior infection to protect against this variant, according to experts who study the variants.

“This virus can get past the defenses that our bodies made against earlier pandemic viruses,” said Jeremy Kamil, a virologist who has been sequencing variants at LSU Health Shreveport. Being infected last summer will not necessarily protect someone from being infected by the delta variant, he said, while the vaccines have been designed to produce an extremely strong response that the body retains for many months.

“You’re much better off if you’ve gotten the vaccine,” said Kamil.

Unvaccinated people who have never had COVID are most at risk, because this variant may be spread by a larger group of people and is more contagious, requiring little contact for an infection to be passed around.

“Delta is going to find you,” said Kamil. “All it needs is one person exposing you for a very short period of time.”

Of 13 samples that have been identified as delta in Louisiana, only one was the delta-plus variant. There are 153 samples identified as delta-plus in the U.S., according to the GISAID, an international, open-access database where researchers upload disease variants. There have been 4,804 delta variants detected in the U.S. and 99,013 worldwide, though the true number of delta cases circulating is likely much higher. 

The Louisiana case was found from a batch taken in early June from a New Orleans resident, but only recently sampled as part of a partnership between the Louisiana Department of Health, Ochsner Health and LSU Health New Orleans.

The partnership will help track emerging variants and aid in contact tracing, said Ochsner researcher Amy Feehan. Ochsner, which has a large footprint across the state and in Mississippi, will also be able to track how variants might be affecting certain groups of patients based on health information they can match with a COVID case, such as vaccination status, type of vaccine or other health conditions.  

“We can start to look back and say, OK, over time this variant emerged and it did or did not affect vaccinated people,” said Feehan, offering one example. 

On Monday, concerns about rising cases of the delta variant prompted Los Angeles county to issue a recommendation for masks indoors regardless of vaccination status. 

The federal government has not made new recommendations after saying in May that vaccinated people could go without masks indoors. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky on Wednesday said vaccinated people in the U.S. are safe from variants, but also said local governments should make the call on masks based on vaccination and case numbers. 

While there has been no change to rules in Louisiana, where the mask mandate was lifted at the end of April, the characteristics of the delta variant have made those most familiar with them maintain vigilance.

“All I can say is what I’m going to do,” said Miele. “I’m fully vaccinated. I’m going to keep my mask on for the protection of anyone who may not be vaccinated and may be sitting next to me.” 

Emily Woodruff covers public health for The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate as a Report For America corps member. 

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