'Delta Plus' variant detected in two M'sian students returning from the UK

 

Two Malaysian students who returned from the United Kingdom last month were found to be carriers of a Covid-19 lineage known as AY.4.2 – a subvariant of the Delta variant that is sometimes informally referred to as "Delta Plus".

AY.4.2 is notable for being reportedly 10 to 15 percent more transmissible than the Delta variant, which is already one of the most transmissible variants of the disease.

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, however, said that vaccines were still found to be effective against this subvariant.

"Vaccines currently in use still work against this variant and measures such as quarantine, testing, and such that are carried out can minimise the risk of this variant spreading in Malaysia, especially at international entry points," he said in a statement today.

The two students arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Oct 2, and an RT-PCR test found them negative.

However, a second swab test on Oct 7 - while both were under quarantine - found them to be positive.

Genomic sequencing reports on samples taken from the two were released on Oct 30.

It is unclear whether the two students are vaccinated or unvaccinated, and if they were quarantined at home or at a quarantine station.

Noor Hisham said there are 75 lineages of Covid-19 that descended from the Delta variant.

"Up to late-October 2021, the AY.4.2 variant makes up 10 percent of genomic sequencing (results) in the UK," he said.

Previously, the US-based health news website Stat had reported that AY.4.2 is only marginally more infectious than the Delta variant, and might be "more of a headache than a devastating gamechanger" in the pandemic.

For clarity, AY.4.2 should not be confused with the much rarer AY.1 and other Delta subvariants, which were also referred to in some earlier media reports as "Delta Plus". - Mkini