The researcher identified the existence of a Delta Plus variant. This variant affects people who have been vaccinated and infected with COVID-19. People who have been vaccinated and become survivors of COVID-19 can be infected again.
One of the people who experienced this is Kamlendra Singh, as reported by Science Daily. Singh flew back to Missouri from India in April. On the way home, he developed a cough and fever on the plane. To note, Singh has been vaccinated against COVID-19 and the results of the COVID-19 test he did before departure came back negative.
Upon arrival, Singh tested positive for COVID-19, most likely due to infection from the Delta variant. Given that this diagnosis is common among people who have been vaccinated against two doses, he wanted to know why.
After recovering at home, Singh, who is a professor at the MU College of Veterinary Medicine and Bond Life Sciences Center, teamed up with MU undergraduate students Austin Spratt, Saathvik Kannan, a student at Hickman High School, and Siddappa Byrareddy, a professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center to analyze the protein sequences of more than 300,000 COVID-19 samples from two emerging variants worldwide, known as Delta and Delta Plus.
Using bioinformatics tools and programming, the team identified five specific mutations that were much more common in Delta Plus infections than in Delta infections, including one mutation, K417N, which was present in all Delta Plus infections but absent in nearly all Delta infections. The findings provide researchers with important clues about the recent structural changes in the virus and highlight the need to expand "weapons" in the fight against COVID-19.
"Whether it's natural antibodies generated from COVID-19 survivors or antibodies generated from vaccines, we demonstrate structurally how dangerous and clever viruses are by being able to mutate in a way that antibodies don't seem to recognize. They defend against these new variants," Spratt said. .
"These findings help explain why so many people have tested positive for the Delta variant of COVID-19 despite having been vaccinated or previously infected with COVID-19.
Singh explained that the COVID-19 vaccine was still effective in preventing severe infection. An additional weapon that might be deployed in response to this pandemic is the development of antiviral drugs that target specific areas of the virus that remain unchanged by mutation.
He gave an example, there is no vaccine for HIV yet because of the unpredictable variability that often accompanies the virus that often mutates.
"But if we can develop a small molecule drug that targets the non-mutating part of the virus, that would be the ultimate solution to fighting the virus," he said.
