What is the new delta plus variant?

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As cases of COVID-19 surge in the United States due to the highly contagious delta variant, a new version of that mutation called the delta plus is causing concern among many health care professionals.

The delta plus variant is similar to the delta variant, but unlike delta, this sub-strain has a spike protein mutation called K417N; these spike proteins latch onto human cells with the external bumps that are found on the virus, Fox 5 in San Diego reported.

A new sub-strain of the delta variant has been discovered in the United States, the United Kingdom, India, and South Korea (iStock)

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Although there is no wide consensus, many people believe that this sub-strain of COVID-19 can be even more contagious than the original delta variants due to its ability to latch onto human cells with their spike proteins, though it has the same mutation as the beta variant.

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There have only been a few cases of the delta plus variant, and they have been detected in the United States, the United Kingdom and India. South Korea also detected two cases of the delta plus variant, and one of the cases is a person reportedly traveling back to the United States.

According to researchers in the United States, it is too early to determine whether the delta plus variant is more contagious or resistant to vaccines than the original delta strain.