The Delta Plus variant is already in Poland. “There is no need to panic”

In Great Britain, the daily number of new cases is well above 40. In part, this is due to the recently discovered AY.4.2 subtype of the coronavirus, also known as Delta Plus. It turns out that he is also present in Poland. – At the moment, there are no indications that the Delta Plus variant will displace the Delta variant from the environment, says doctor Bartosz Fiałek.

1. In the UK, over 52 were announced on Thursday. coronavirus cases
2. For 10 percent infections in this country currently corresponds to AY.4.2, also known as the Delta Plus variant
3. It is also present in several other countries, including Poland
4. So far, 79 cases of this variant have been sequenced in our country
5. More information can be found on the Onet homepage

Delta Plus variant already in Poland

A new version of the Delta Coronavirus variant has recently been discovered in the UK. It is marked with the symbol AY.4.2.

It is Delta Plus that may be responsible for the very large number of infections in this country. More and more cases of this subtype are discovered outside the UK. The variant is also present in Poland.

– Delta Plus appears in many countries – apart from Great Britain, the United States and Denmark, it has already been sequenced, for example in Israel or Germany. According to the latest data globally analyzing the occurrence of various lines of development of the new coronavirus, Pango Lineages, 79 cases of this variant have been sequenced in Poland so far – informs Bartosz Fiałek, a specialist in the field of rheumatology and a promoter of medical knowledge, especially regarding the coronavirus.

– There is no need to panic yet. As soon as the standard Delta variant emerged in individual countries, the number of COVID-19 cases caused by this new coronavirus line of development increased significantly. The share of the Delta Plus variant, on the other hand, increases in some countries, and decreases in others – adds Fiałek.

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The doctor emphasizes that from an epidemic point of view, the most important thing is whether the new variant of SARS-CoV-2 begins to dominate in a given area. As was the case with the Alpha and Delta variants, which were responsible for the third and fourth waves of the pandemic. – At the moment, there are no indications that the Delta Plus variant will displace the Delta variant from the environment – explains Fiałek.

Delta Plus variant – what do we know about it?

Delta Plus is already responsible for 10 percent. infection cases in the UK. It spreads very quickly, though not as fast as the original Delta variant. According to British experts, the infectivity of AY.4.2 may be higher by 10%.

— If preliminary evidence is confirmed, AY.4.2 may be the most infectious strain of coronavirus since pandemic began – said recently Francois Balloux, director of the University College London Genetics Institute. – But it is difficult to make unambiguous judgments yet. For now, this is only happening in Great Britain and I do not rule out that this increase is a random demographic event.

According to Balloux, AY.4.2 will soon be considered by the World Health Organization as an option under investigation (Variants Under Monitoring). Currently, there are over a dozen different strains on this list.

AY.4.2 occurs primarily in Great Britain. According to information collected on the website cov-lineages.org, so far almost 20 have been sequenced in this country. cases. About 200 cases have been detected in Germany and Denmark. Apart from Poland, there are also in Italy, Ireland, France, Belgium and Romania. Outside of Europe, isolated cases have been found in the United States and Japan.

Delta variant and its subtypes

Currently, the Delta variant dominates the world. Its most common subtype is AY.4, accounting for about 70 percent. of all COVID-19 genomes sequenced worldwide.

AY.4.2, which has worried scientists in the UK, is one of 45 Delta-derived subtypes that have been registered worldwide. It contains two mutations in the spike protein (S) designated Y145H and A222V.

Both mutations have been found before in various strains of the coronavirus, but the four most dangerous variants do not contain them, so Balloux says it is still unclear why they could make AY.4.2 more infectious. “At first glance, these mutations do not seem to be more vaccine resistant, more contagious, or faster transmitted,” he said.

British experts recall that the Alpha variant, which spread rapidly in the UK last year, was down by around 50%. more infectious than the original Wuhan virus, while Delta had 60 percent. more infectious than Alpha. But the recently discovered AY.4.2, in their opinion, was hardly so different from the original Delta.

Also read:

1. The R index in Poland is growing. Where is the tallest?
2. A year ago, it was almost 30. infections daily. Is it waiting for us now?
3. The number of deaths after the pandemic terrifies doctors. «Whoever survived, survived. And whoever was weaker died »
4. Are we ready for the fourth wave? Doctor: there is confusion
5. The RS virus attacks with doubled force. “Something like that has never happened before”

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