Two samples in Karnataka found infected with AY.4.2

What is the News?

Two samples from Karnataka were retrospectively found to be infected with AY.4.2 Covid Variant.

What is AY.4.2 Variant?

AY.4.2 is a descendant of the Delta variant of COVID-19. The Delta variant also known as B.1.617.2 was first identified in India in October 2020.

The AY.4.2 variant carries two characteristic mutations in the spike, Y145H and A222V. Both of these have been found in various other SARS-CoV-2 lineages.

Cases of AY.4.2 Variant

Presently, the United Kingdom accounts for 96% cases of AY.4.2 followed by Denmark and Germany at 1% each. It has also been reported in the US, Israel, and Russia.

In India, cases have been detected in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

How dangerous is AY.4.2?

The AY.4.2 is still emerging. Hence, there is no evidence so far that AY.4.2 mutation is intrinsically dangerous, makes vaccines less effective or causes more severe illness.

What is Mutation, and how does it occur?

A mutation is simply a change in the virus’ genome: the set of genetic instructions that contain all the information that the virus needs to function. 

When the virus replicates, this set of instructions needs to be copied, but errors can creep in during this process. 

Depending on where in the genome mistakes occur, they can have a negative or positive impact on the virus ability to survive and replicate. The majority of the time, they may have no impact at all.

Source: This post is based on the article “Two samples in Karnataka found infected with AY.4.2” published in The Hindu on 27th October 2021.