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People on London Bridge on the morning of November 18, 2021
Photo: TOM NICHOLSON / Reuters
The delta sub-variant of the AY.4.2 coronavirus is now responsible for more than one in ten new infections in Great Britain.
That emerges from the large-scale React study by Imperial College London, the latest results of which were published on Thursday.
Accordingly, 11.8 percent of 841 sequenced positive samples could be assigned to the sub-variant AY.4.2.
In total, PCR tests from more than 100,000 people were evaluated for the study, of which almost 1,400 had a positive result.
Typical symptoms are less common
According to findings from Great Britain, the sub-variant is likely to spread faster than the previously predominant delta variant.
Since the last study in September, the scientists calculated an average daily growth of the AY.4.2 share of 2.8 percent.
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At the same time, symptomatic diseases are less common, the researchers found.
The typical symptoms such as loss or change in the sense of smell and taste, fever and a new, persistent cough, are therefore less common in infections with AY.4.2.
Overall, the less frequent occurrence of symptoms is of course a good thing, added study leader Paul Elliott.
How the sub-variant will affect the course of the pandemic cannot yet be estimated, said researcher Christl Donnelly, who was involved in the study, told Sky News. Less symptomatic cases could mean that fewer infected cases would be detected, the researcher said. On the other hand, the absence of symptoms such as coughing can also reduce the risk of infection.
In Germany, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), there is no evidence that the importance of this delta sub-variant in pandemic events is increasing.
Since the first evidence from the beginning of July to mid-November, 766 hits have been recorded, as the RKI announced on request.
The proportion of the sub-variant has been relatively constant at around one percent in random samples over the past few weeks.
The RKI is therefore currently assuming "that this variant cannot spread significantly more than other lines under the infection control measures in place in Germany."
The sub-variant AY.4.2 has not yet been classified as a cause for concern by the World Health Organization, but is under observation.
mar / dpa