Delta Plus Variant Has Been Detected In 2 Malaysian Students Who Came Back From The UK
The current vaccines, Dr Noor Hisham said, were still effective against the Delta Plus variant.
By Sadho Ram — 07 Nov 2021, 02:09 PM
Malaysia has detected the first two cases of COVID-19 Delta Plus variant in the country in students who came back from the UK, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham has now confirmed
In a statement, the Health DG said the two students arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on 2 October, following which they underwent RT-PCR tests and were initially found negative before being confirmed positive after a second test was conducted on 7 October during the quarantine period.
"This sample has undergone full genome sequencing at the Institute of Medical Molecular Biology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UMBI-UKM) and the result was released on 30 October," he added.
The Delta Plus variant is known as AY.4.2
According to Noor Hisham, the AY.4 variant is among 75 types of lineages originating from the Delta variant and among the sublineages of AY.4 is the AY.4.2 variant which is also known as Delta Plus.
"The AY.4.2 variant has two additional mutations to the spike proteins, Y145H and A222V, and as of the end of October, the AY.4.2 variant represents 10% of the total full genome sequencing conducted in the UK," he said, adding that the UK Health Security Agency has classified AY.4.2 as Variant Under Investigation (VUI).
The current vaccines, he said, were still effective against AY.4.2 variant
"The vaccines used now are still effective on these variants and measures such as quarantine, testing, and others carried out can help reduce the risk of this variant transmission in Malaysia especially at international entry points," he said, assuring that the Ministry of Health will continue to closely monitor the situation.
Although, Noor Hisham did not specify if the two students are partially or full vaccinated.
