Scientists say delta mutations are not the reason for panic

London — A recently discovered sub-mutant of the Covid-19 delta strain now accounts for 10% of new cases in the UK, but scientists say there is no reason to panic.

Known as AY.4.2, it has some concerns Infectivity can be about 10% higher Better than the original delta strain, but so far there is insufficient evidence to prove this is the case.

The subvariant, believed to have emerged in the summer in the United Kingdom, has two additional mutations that affect peaplomers, which are part of the viral structure used to invade cells. The question remains as to whether or exactly how these mutations will affect how quickly they spread.

In the last 28 days, AY.4.2 has accounted for about 10% of new Covid-19 cases, according to data from the Public Health Consortium Cog-UK. This will be the third predominant version of Covid-19 in the UK in the last four weeks, following the original Delta strain and another of its so-called substrains.

Despite the rise, UK public health officials have emphasized that AY.4.2 does not appear to cause more serious illness or reduce the effectiveness of existing vaccines so far. I am.And according to Biologist at Northumbria University, England, The mutation failed to settle in some European countries and “dropped radar in Germany and Ireland”.

Christina Pagel, director of clinical operations research at the University College London, told CNBC over the phone that the new subvariant of Delta was steadily growing in the UK and elsewhere, but it wasn’t a source of great caution. Told.

“It’s not good news in that sense because it seems to have a transmission advantage of 12% to 18% compared to Delta. The situation is a bit more difficult, but it’s not a big jump,” Pagel said. ..

“Delta has about 60 percent higher transmission rate compared to alpha, doubling every week. It’s up 1-2 percent a week. It’s much slower, so in that sense it’s like Delta. It’s not a big disaster. It will probably be gradually replaced by Delta in the coming months, but there are no signs of high vaccine resistance. [so] At this point, I don’t have to panic about it. “

However, the emergence of new mutations has raised some concerns, Pagel said. She added that if new mutations arrive in countries that are even behind the UK in the vaccination program, it will cause further problems. It also proved that the coronavirus was still mutated.

“There are many different subtypes in Delta, [but] This is the first subtype that seems to actually have an advantage over other deltas, “says Pagel. Some say Delta hit the sweet spot. Please take a closer look. Another sweet spot was found. “

Pagel called for the reintroduction of some mitigations in the UK. Almost all remaining Covid limits In July and now it has one of the highest infection rates in the world.

“If the number of cases is high, we will continue to provide opportunities for mutations,” she said. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence [the new subvariant] I came to England for a long time with very high cases. “