WHO has new Delta Plus mutants in view - first evidence now also in Germany

The WHO is keeping an eye on the mutation of the delta variant, the delta plus mutation.

The RKI has now confirmed that there had already been the first cases of the mutant in the summer.

Berlin - Mutations had already caused increasing numbers of infections in the corona pandemic in the past, and the World Health Organization is now looking at a new sub-variant of the delta mutation.

The first cases have also been recorded in Germany, but it is still completely unclear whether the Delta-Plus mutation is actually more contagious than the common corona virus.

WHO has new Delta Plus mutants in view - first evidence now also in Germany

According to its own statement, the WHO has the new mutation of the Corona variant Delta in view.

The virus called AY.4.2 has two additional mutations, the WHO announced on Thursday at the request of the German Press Agency.

According to the dpa, the Robert Koch Institute announced that the Delta Plus variant had been detected around 280 times in Germany since the week of July 5 to July 11.

However, only a small part of the corona samples are checked for virus variants.

The share of AY.4.2 in all total genome sequences has been between 0 and 0.5 percent in the RKI sample since that week.

The spread is still very low.

AY.4.2 has not yet been dealt with in RKI publications on variants.

This would only be the case if the WHO classified the mutant as of interest or as worrying, it said.

Far more cases of the new Delta Plus variant have recently been detected in the UK.

Russia also recorded the first cases, as a representative of the consumer protection agency Rospotrebnadzor said, according to the Interfax agency.

There was also evidence of AY.4.2 in the USA and Denmark.

However, researchers have not yet assumed that the mutant could be significantly more contagious than the previous Delta variant.

List of rubric lists: © Rajesh Kumar Singh / dpa