The Jalisco Health Secretariat (SSJ) reports the first case of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 confirmed in the entity.
The patient is a 33-year-old male, originally from Nagpur, India, who arrived in Mexico on April 18, 2021, in the municipality of Zapopan. The day before his arrival (April 17) he started with symptoms: cough, fever, chills and headache; later chest pain and difficulty in breathing. The State Laboratory of Public Health (LESP) processed his sample and sent it to the Institute for Epidemiological Diagnosis and Reference (INDRE), a federal authority that confirmed it corresponds to the Delta variant.
The patient was seen by a private doctor, who confirmed COVID-19 by antigen test. Given that the patient comes from India and the epidemiological situation in that country, it was decided to take a sample and send it to the INDRE for genotification.
The patient was managed at his home and did not require hospitalization. An epidemiological investigation and follow-up of contacts were carried out, including the private physician who attended the case and the interpreter of the patient. Two samples were positive for SARS-CoV-2, but not for the Delta variant.
Currently all three cases have recovered.
The SSJ has some samples under study of people who present criteria of suspicion of having suffered infection by SARS-CoV-2 with the variant B.1.617.2, and who are international travelers -especially from countries with this variant. To date, the INDRE has not officially confirmed more cases of variant B.1.617.2, the presence of which is a latent risk throughout the world.
In December 2020, the variant was notified by India, as outbreaks with a significant number of cases and deaths occurred in that country. Recently the World Health Organization (WHO) declared it a "variant of concern," since it has been reported to be more contagious and with greater resistance to vaccines.