DNA Explainer: Kappa variant of COVID-19 - Know all about its mutations, symptoms and vaccine efficacy

Two cases of a lesser-prominent variant of COVID-19, the Kappa variant have emerged from the state of Uttar Pradesh. The variant was overshadowed by the dominant Delta variant which is believed to be largely responsible for the brutal second wave.

Kappa is not a new strain. First detected in October 2020 by India, the Kappa variant is designated as a variant of interest and is identified as B.1.617.1, as per the World Health Organization (WHO) website. While it was already known last year, the Kappa variant was designated as a variant of interest around 5 months after its detection on April 4, 2021.

History and mutation

The Kappa variant is a double mutant with the same lineage as the Delta variant which is identified as B.1.617.1. Interestingly the Delta variant, discovered around the same times as Kappa, was declared a variant of interest on the same date of April 4. It was redesignated a variant of concern more than a month later on May 11.

As per the WHO, a variant of interest is one which has genetic changes “that are predicted or known to affect virus characteristics such as transmissibility, disease severity, immune escape, diagnostic or therapeutic escape”. These variants are also “identified to cause significant community transmission or multiple COVID-19 clusters, in multiple countries with increasing relative prevalence alongside increasing number of cases over time, or other apparent epidemiological impacts to suggest an emerging risk to global public health.”

How effective are vaccines against Kappa variant?

It is believed that Kappa variant’s antibody neutralizing capabilities may slightly reduce the effectiveness for both vaccines and immunity generated from natural infections. However, as per a study published in June, both the Pfizer-BioNTech and the AstraZeneca (branded Covishield in India) vaccines were found to remain broadly effective against Delta as well as Kappa variants.

As per the study by Oxford University researchers, published in the journal Cell, “There is no evidence of widespread escape suggesting that the current generation of vaccines will provide protection against the B.1.617 lineage."

Symptoms of the Kappa variant

In India, the Delta variant overshadowed the Kappa variant which has meant that there haven’t been enough studies and literature available around it. The Kappa variant was reported to be behind the outbreak that forced the Australian city of Melbourne into lockdown in May.

A Kappa variant infection has similar symptoms to other COVID-19 variants - flu, fever, headache, aches, prolonged cough, dry mouth, to loss of smell and taste. However, one epidemiologist from Griffith University Australia, Dicky Budiman confirmed recently pointed out to VOI that a number of people who were infected with a Kappa strain experience measles-like symptoms initially.

"Regarding this Kappa variant, the symptoms are the same as the initial symptoms of measles, but in the first one to two days. The difference is, the Kappa variant does not show skin disorders such as measles," said Budiman a day ago.

As per him, the initial symptoms of Kappa variant infection rashes all over the body, high fever, cough, runny nose, and red and watery eyes. The symptoms start looking similar to other infections from other COVID-19 strains the next day, he suggested.