80% of Indian’s breakthrough infections during COVID-19 second wave were due to Delta variant: ICMR study

The ICMR study conducted by Pune’s National Institute of Virology (NIV) involved a sample size of 677 people – all cases of breakthrough infections. Out of them, 482 people or 71 percent of the cases were symptomatic with fever being the most dominant and consistent symptom, 71 people or 9.8 percent of them required hospitalisation, and three vaccinated persons died during the second wave.

PTI

July 16, 2021 / 16:41 IST

The Delta variant of SARS-COV-2 was behind majority of clinical cases of breakthrough infection of COVID-19 but only 9.8 percent cases required hospitalisation and fatality was observed in only 0.4 percent cases, according to a new ICMR study.

Breakthrough infections are those cases where a person gets infected even after getting vaccinated.

The ICMR study, the largest and first nationwide study on post-vaccination breakthrough infections in India, said its analysis shows that the vaccination does provide a reduction in hospital admission and mortality.

"Therefore, enhancing the vaccination drive and immunising the populations quickly would be the most important strategy to prevent further deadly waves of the COVID-19 and would reduce the burden on the health care system," the study said.

The study conducted by Pune’s National Institute of Virology (NIV) involved a sample size of 677 people – all cases of breakthrough infections. Out of them, 482 people or 71 percent of the cases were symptomatic with fever being the most dominant and consistent symptom, 71 people or 9.8 percent of them required hospitalisation, and three vaccinated persons died during the second wave.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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