The director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Rochelle Walensky on October 20 confirmed at a press conference that AY.4.2 - a sub-variant of the Delta strain, also known as Delta Plus - has been detected. in U.S.A.
The Financial Times quoted medical experts as saying that this variant has a 10-15% higher risk of spreading than Delta. AY.4.2 is currently being closely monitored in the UK after the country’s health authorities discovered this strain was linked to a sharp increase in Covid-19 cases in the UK in the past time.
Ms. Walensky said that AY.4.2 - the variant "that has attracted attention in recent days" - has not been found to be associated with any outbreaks or outbreaks in the US.
"We do occasionally detect this strain, but it has not had an increased frequency of infection or caused an outbreak. At this time, there is no evidence that AY.4.2 can affect effectiveness. Current Covid-19 vaccine or treatment and we will continue to monitor," the official said.
"In the US, Delta is still the dominant strain, accounting for 99.7% of all sequencing cases," said Ms. Walensky.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the US CDC said that the number of AY.4.2 cases is still quite small in the US, but did not specify which state has recorded this variant.
Earlier, Scott Gottlieb, a former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) called for an "urgent study" of AY.4.2, to find out if this strain causes a strong spread. and whether or not there is partial immunity.
Meanwhile, UK health officials said last week that data showed 6% of cases in the country were linked to AY.4.2 and that it was classified as a "variant of concern" in the UK.
Andrew Pollard from the Oxford Vaccine Group told the BBC that there was no indication that AY.4.2 would become the mainstream in the future and take the place of the current Delta.
