Delta sub-variant AY.4.2: large proportion of cases in Vienna

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Vienna is far ahead in samples with the corona delta sub-variant AY.4.2 – compared to other provinces in Austria. Ulrich Elling of the IMBA (Institute of Molecular Biotechnology) finds one aspect important among others – and has a “mission to the Federal Ministry” of Health ready.
The AY.4.2 variant has appeared more than 30 times in Austria so far. The samples in which AY.4.2 was present account for a large proportion of the samples in the federal capital, with a total of 50 percent of the samples. Ulrich Elling of the IMBA (Institute of Molecular Biotechnology) in Vienna explained in an interview published by vienna.at. However, Elling also pointed out that the persons concerned do not necessarily have to come from Vienna – and Vienna is behind the majority of the samples considered.

“Mandate to the Federal Ministry”
Elling attaches importance to one point, among others: hospitalizations. But: It is not possible to check whether AY.4.2 results in a plus in the number of hospitalizations, says the “Reserach Group Leader”. He speaks of a “mandate for the federal department to feed hospitalization data into the EMS system in real time to allow reconciliation of sequencing results with disease progression.” That said, Elling says he would like to see widespread access to booster vaccination sooner than planned. He points to other states, among others, in this regard. In addition, he would also be in favor of mandatory vaccination, which would cover high-risk patients on the one hand and people who have exceeded a specified age on the other.

AY.4.2 at low percentage in Austria
Austria-wide, the percentage of AY.4.2 is low: Significantly less than one percent of the samples sequenced in this country during the past five weeks contained AY.4.2, the Health Ministry said, published by vienna.at. on Thursday. “According to the latest available data, AY.4.2 does not play a relevant role in the incidence of infection in Austria,” it said. A trend toward a plus in AY.4.2 has not been discernible so far – but a look at future infection incidence in a virus subgroup is not easy, it said.

Austria: No details on cases of delta submutation AY.4.2
Details on the quantity of AY.4.2 cases, the breakdown among the provinces, and the time of emergence were not available from the ministry – that would be considered “premature.” Any consequences of the spread of AY.4.2 would be kept in mind in Austria. But: At the moment, there is a lack of exact information on the “classification and definition of AY.4.2”. Monika Redlberger-Fritz of the Medical University of Vienna also sees a lack of information: “At the moment, there is not enough data to assess AY.4.2. However, there are already data that point in the direction of a 10 percent easier infection. At least for the time being, we are spared one piece of bad news, because according to Redlberger-Fritz there are no statements with regard to possible worse courses due to AY.4.2.

AY.4.2: Expert from university in Austria about Great Britain
“Various subvariants of the delta variant with additional mutations are currently circulating worldwide. The AY.4.2 variant is one such subvariant,” explains Janine Kimpel from the Virology Institute at the Medical University of Innsbruck. She points to the United Kingdom, where AY.4.2 has occupied more space in the past. That may be an argument, she says, “that this variant multiplies somewhat faster than other delta variants.” In the event that AY.4.2 has higher infectivity than the original variant, Kimpel expects it to spread across the country. In addition, she says, “We have seen in the past that several times the variant with the greatest speed of spread has always prevailed in most countries.”