New Covid Variant AY.4.2 Highly Transmissible, Less Fatal, ICMR Scientist Says

New Covid variant AY.4.2 seems to be highly transmissible but may not be fatal, ICMR’s scientist Dr Samiran Panda told News18.com. He also said there is “no need to create panic but everyone must step up Covid-appropriate behaviour”.

Around 17 samples of SARS-CoV2 variant called AY.4.2 have been identified in India.

AY.4.2 is a sub-lineage of the delta variant of the Covid-causing SARS-CoV-2 virus while delta continues to be the most dominant variant circulating in India.

“The new delta variant seems to be highly transmissible but not fatal, as such. It can be more transmissible (or infectious) considering that the virus does that for its own survival as it needs more hosts (body of human being). However, it is difficult to say that it will be more virulent,” said Panda, head of ICMR’s epidemiology department.

Panda explained that “variants occur as viruses proliferate as offspring do not look exactly like their parents. Efficient transmission does not necessarily go hand in hand with more virulence because increased virulence will make an infected host less mobile and may even lead to hospitalisation and unfortunate event of death, which is not a smart move as viruses require cells of living hosts to survive as they do not have their own kitchen.”

“We should not create panic but stepping up vigilance and following Covid appropriate behaviour is necessary. There is no place for complacency.”

According to GISAID, an open-access genomic database of influenza viruses and the coronavirus, seven samples of AY.4.2 were found in Andhra Pradesh, two in Karnataka, two in Telangana, four in Kerala, one each in Jammu & Kashmir and Maharashtra.

Variant Found More in UK Still Under Investigation

AY.4.2 has been detected in the United Kingdom in the increased frequency.

“The Delta variant sub-lineage AY.4.2, also known as Delta Plus, has aroused concern with its sequence found in ~10% of recent UK cases,” American scientist Eric Topol tweeted on October 24.

“AY.4.2 is still known as the variant under investigation or variant of interest and not concern. Hence, cluster-based studies would define its characteristics in the coming days,” Panda advised.

In India, INSACOG — a multi-laboratory, multi-agency, Pan-India network to monitor genomic variations in the SARS-CoV-2 by a sentinel sequencing effort — is studying the characteristics of the new strains of the virus.

The World Health Organization (WHO) describes mutations that make the variant more infectious or deadly as ‘variant of concern’.

According to Panda, who is also the director of ICMR’s National AIDS Research Institute (NARI), combination of vaccine and use of masks should be followed without any exception.

“New variant or the old one spreads by the same means – let’s therefore use mask and outsmart the virus SARS-CoV-2.”

“While masks would prevent the acquisition of infection, the vaccines would try to reduce hospitalisation and death. We should follow these two practices, irrespective of any mutation or variant.”

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