Kappa, Lambda variants: Do you need to be worried?

A man in a mask at the Mahalaxmi Race Course. Pic/Bipin Kokate

After the Delta variant of the novel Coronavirus, which has impacted India and several other countries, new variants like Kappa and Lambda are becoming a matter of concern. Experts have said that while they may not have penetrated large swathes of the population, the country needs to be on guard to prevent their spread.

Dr Wiqar Shaikh, professor of medicine, Grant Medical College and Sir JJ Group of Hospitals, said that Lambda and Kappa have just started showing their presence in the Indian population. They have been reported in UP and Kerala and so far, Mumbai and its nearby areas have not reported these variants.

To keep the variants at bay, Dr Shaikh suggested the following tips: more laboratory tests for new variants in both rural and urban areas; urgent ramping up of medical infrastructure, urging public to strictly observe Covid-appropriate behaviour because the risk of getting infected by the new variants is higher as they transmit faster; increasing the quantum of fully vaccinated populations; keeping children indoors; having specialised Covid care centres equipped with life-saving equipment, medicines, adequate trained staff and uninterrupted oxygen supply.

All current variants

The terminology given to Covid-19 variants has been formulated by the WHO. The variants are divided into Variant of Interest (a strain that reduces the efficacy of treatment and has increased virulence and transmissibility) and Variant of Concern (a strain with increased transmissibility with evidence of increased hospitalisation and death and a reduction in the efficacy of vaccines).

A woman, with her mask improperly worn, walks by graffiti of the Covid virus. Pic/Shadab Khan

Dr Shaikh enumerated currently known variants: Alpha (B.1.1.7) - Variant of Concern in the USA. Spreads easily, has 50 per cent more transmission ability as compared to the original virus. It also has increased risk of hospitalisation and deaths. Beta (B.1.351) - Variant of Concern in the USA, has 50 per cent more transmissibility and was initially detected in South Africa. Vaccine efficacy is significantly reduced. Delta (B.1.617.2) - This strain was first detected in India. The WHO says that it has spread to more than 111 countries around the world and is now the dominant strain in multiple countries. The Delta variant potentially spreads more easily than other variants. It is now the commonest variant in the USA and spreads easily in households. Delta Plus AY.1 (B.1.617.2.1) and AY.2 (B.1.617.2) - Delta Plus is currently a cause for global concern. It is more virulent and has greater transmissibility than the Delta variant.

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Further, Epsilon (B.1.427) and (B.1.429) - was first detected in California in 2020. Has been declared a Variant of Concern by the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) in the USA. It has been detected in 34 countries. Eta (B.1.525) - has been detected in 23 countries. Currently, it is a variant of investigation in UK. Gamma (P.1) - Variant of Concern in the USA. It significantly reduces the efficacy of vaccines. Iota (B.1.526) - first discovered in New York. Has spread to 18 countries. However, Iota has been outcompeted by the more transmissible Alpha.

The latest variants

Dr Shaikh added, "The latest variants include, Kappa (B.1.617.1) - this was also first identified in India. It is possibly not more virulent and has been labelled as a variant of interest. Two cases of the Kappa variant have recently been identified in Uttar Pradesh. Lambda (C.37) - has spread to 29 countries. Originally identified in Peru. Heavy concentration in South America. Also seen in the UK. A study in the journal medRxiv on July 1, 2020, concluded that the Lambda virus has increased infectivity and that vaccines may not be effective against this strain when compared with the original Covid-19 virus."

Dr Shaikh added that currently a cocktail of the so-called "monoclonal antibodies" has caught the attention of clinicians around the world, including India but that the CDC has warned that they may be less effective in treating Covid variants.

The WHO has said that the current vaccines are expected to provide at least some protection but not complete protection against new variants. "As long as Covid spreads through the population, more mutations and more variants will continue to happen," Dr Shaikh warned.

Dr Subhash Hira, professor of Global Health, University of Washington-Seattle said, "Of the 21 amino acids common to all life forms, the nine essential amino acids that an organism cannot synthesise but needs to make proteins are phenylalanine, valine, threonine, tryptophan, methionine, leucine, isoleucine, lysine, and histidine. Then there are additional nine non-essential amino acids too. Each organism comprises proteins that are made up of these amino acids that are laid down in sequences. If this sequence of amino acids is altered or garbled or occasional amino acid is dropped, a new variant of the organism is produced with some altered functions."

Dr Hira added, "With an indefinite number of waves in the future that may keep building in countries across the globe, the Variant of Concern will likely keep appearing at different times."

02
No. of cases of Kappa detected in Uttar Pradesh

29
No. of countries where Lambda has spread