A new subtype of the COVID-19 delta variant was detected in the United Kingdom, and experts closely monitor the possible infectious disease. The UK Health Security Agency recently announced a statement regarding the matter last Friday in their Technical Briefing 25, SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern and variants under investigation in England. The subtype of the delta variant is called AY.4.2 and was confirmed to have infected a lot of the country's population in the recent public health records.
Delta Variant Subtype AY.4.2
University College London Genetics Institute expert Fancrois Balloux said that the information about the new delta variant might have 10 percent more transmission capacity than the initial and most common delta variants present in the UK, Science Alert reported. According to the statement by the expert, the cases regarding the AY.4.2 are now under investigation.
The Public Health England said in their report that 6 percent of the sequenced tests as of September 27 in the UK are confirmed to be the new coronavirus subvariant AY4.2. However, the health authorities wrote that the estimates of the cases were not yet finalized as the variant's mutation is still challenging to determine among the previous COVID-19 mutations.
Food and Drug Administration's former commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in an Insider report that the new subvariant is not to be taken as an 'immediate cause of concern.' However, Gottlieb insisted that the AY.4.2 mutation should be the top priority for urgent research to identify the capabilities of the virus, including its infection rate and how the immune response will react. Gottlieb added that the characterizations of the new delta mutation and other variants must be plotted as soon as possible since the advanced tools are already at hand. Moreover, the identification of AY.4.2 should be coordinated by leaders and health authorities throughout every country.
Read also: COVID-19 Delta Variant Incubation Period: Why Is It So Dangerous and How Mutations Made This Variant
UK's New COVID-19 Subtype Could Be More Transmissive Than Delta Variant
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute's medical genomics expert Jeffrey Barrett said that the AY.4.2 is confirmed to be the sole mutation of the coronavirus delta subvariant that can increase in terms of transmission. The AY4.2 is gradually replicating the original delta variant compared to the quick dominance of the first variant over the alpha variant. The subjugation of the AY.4.2 over the delta variant is dangerous, as delta alone was 60 percent more transmissive than alpha. The AY.4.2 mutation is not yet detected nor confirmed in other countries as of today.
The coronavirus that caused the pandemic can transition into two distinct mutations per month. According to the Scripps Research's Outbreak, there are currently 56 delta mutations that are actively infecting people today. The AY.4.2 was discovered to have mutations in the spike protein. Unfortunately, limited data are available on the true ability of the coronavirus.
Balloux said that the new COVID-19 delta subvariant mutation is extremely rare outside the boundaries of the country. In the United States, there are only three detected cases of the AY.4.2 so far.
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