Delta variant infected 80% vaccinated Indians during Covid second wave: ICMR study - 10 facts
1 min read 16 Jul 2021, 04:11 PM ISTAs per the ICMR, the Delta variant had infected even those individuals who had received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccineICMR study: The deaths rate among Covid-19 vaccinated individuals was found to be very low
PremiumDelta variant of Sars-CoV-2 was the major reason for breakthrough infections during the second wave of Covid-19 in the country, a new study conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has claimed. Breakthrough infection is if one gets infected even after immunisation.
As per the ICMR study, Delta (B.1.617.2) and Kappa (B.1.617.1) were detected among 60% of the clinical specimens of the Covid-19 cases collected from Maharashtra during January and February 2021.
During the second Covid-19 wave, the infection among breakthrough cases predominantly occurred through Delta variant because of higher transmissibility, the ICMR study added.
Here are important findings of the ICMR study:
1. ICMR said 86.09% of the breakthrough infections were caused by the Delta variant (B.1.617.2).
2.As per the ICMR, the Delta variant had infected even those individuals who had received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
3.The study was conducted by the Pune-based National Institute of Virology. They did genome analysis of the SARS-CoV2 virus from 677 people who got infected even after taking the vaccine.
4. The deaths rate among vaccinated individuals was found to be very low. The study has suggested that vaccination does provide a reduction in hospital admission and mortality.
5. This study indicated that the majority of the clinical cases in the breakthrough were infected with the Delta variant and only 9.8% required hospitalization while fatality was observed in only 0.4% of cases.
6.The study found that southern, western, eastern, and north-western regions of India predominantly reported breakthrough infections from mainly Delta and then Kappa variant of SARS-CoV-2.
7. Out of the 677 patients analysed, 85 acquired COVID-19 infection after taking the first dose of the vaccine, while 592 were infected after receiving both doses of the vaccine.
8. A total of 604 patients had received Covishield vaccine, 71 had received Covaxin and two had received Sinopharm vaccine.
9. A total of 482 cases of the 677 cases (71%) were symptomatic with one or more symptoms, while 29% had asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection. Three of the 677 people died.
10. Fever (69%) was the most consistent symptom followed by body ache, headache and nausea (56%), cough (45%), sore throat (37%), loss of smell and taste (22%), diarrhoea (6%), breathlessness (6%) and 1% had ocular irritation and redness.
