New variant in Norway
British health authorities recently state that the incidence of the new subgroup of the delta variant has increased and that it currently accounts for six percent of the analyzed samples. A spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson has stated Sky News by the authorities has AY.4.2 under close supervision.
In addition, Anders Fomsgaard at the Statens Serum Institut informs Danish TV 2 that 262 cases of AY.4.2 have been registered in Denmark since 4 August. Foms helsegaard reports that it is not immediately at AY.4.2 that causes the Danish authorities to warn.
The National Institute of Public Health states that 13 cases of AY.4.2 have been registered in Norway. The case has mainly been registered in August and September, while one case was registered in October.
Demonstrated cases must be in isolation, and the risk of spreading from these is very low if you follow the infection control guidelines for isolated. The risk of spreading this version of the delta variant is currently not assessed to be higher than for other subgroups of delta, says department director Line Vold at FHI to Dagbladet.
FHI follows
FHI will follow the development related to the spread of AY.4.2.
– At present, this is not a version of the Delta variant which is included in the list of particularly interesting variants, or variants which are of concern. That may change if Britain continues to see an increase in the preconditions of this, says Vold and continues:
– We have not received any messages or alerts directly from another country, but follow the information that is posted in the network and as publishers. So far, there is some reliable information and knowledge about this subgroup, but it is one of many subgroups that we follow.
– Stay home until February
Changes
Recently, Dagbladet mentioned another subgroup of the delta variant which has changes that are added with increased ability to escape immunity, ie increased ability to infect people who have acquired immunity to covid-19 as a result of vaccination or breakthrough disease.
As long as large-scale proliferation of covid-19 persists, new variants are expected to emerge. Health authorities around the world fear that a new variant will emerge which is more contagious, more deadly or has an increased ability to escape immunity. Violence at FHI explains what changes AY.4.2 has:
– This subgroup has mutations, Y145H and A222V, which cause changes in the nail protein of the virus. One mutation has been put in other subgroups of the delta variants and several other SARS-CoV-2 viruses, which were very much set in Europe before the alpha variant took over. The second mutation causes a change in an area that binds to antibodies, says Vold and continues:
– Since the subgroup has some interesting changes in the nail protein, we follow the spread of this, as we do with the other subgroups of the delta variant. At present, it is not possible to assess whether this subgroup has increased infectivity or whether it escapes immunity better than the other delta subgroups.
In conclusion, Violence from the United Kingdom, Denmark, Norway and Iceland draws its work from analyzing positive samples, and says that this means that variants and subgroups are discovered to a greater extent in these countries and in many other countries.