Authors
J Y L Fu, I C Sam, M Kahar Bador, Y F Chan
Published in
Tropical biomedicine. Volume 43. Issue 3. Pages 351-358. Sep 01, 2026.
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has driven unprecedented global efforts to track the evolution of SARS-CoV-2. Malaysia presents a distinctive setting for studying SARS-CoV-2 variant dynamics, as its population is divided between East and West Malaysia by the South China Sea. This study examines the distribution of SARS-CoV-2 variants across East and West Malaysia during the pandemic. Malaysia-specific lineages (B.1.524 and B.1.466.2) predominated during the early wave of the pandemic, and were associated with moderate infection rates and relatively stable hospitalisation. The B.1.466.2 lineage and its sublineage AU.2 established localised circulation in East Malaysia but failed to spread to West Malaysia, likely constrained by geographic isolation. The subsequent introduction of variants of concern (VOCs), particularly Beta, Delta, and Omicron, correlated with marked increases in infection rates and hospital admissions, reflecting their enhanced transmissibility and virulence. Notably, the case fatality ratio during the B.1.524/B.1.466.2-dominant period remained lower compared to peaks observed during Delta dominance, suggesting differences in clinical severity or healthcare burden. The spread of highly transmissible and immune-evasive VOCs clearly demonstrated the weakened effect of geographical barrier in variant distribution. Targeted, region-stratified genomic surveillance should be prioritised for timely variant detection and effective containment.
PMID:
42960655
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 30 Oct 2026.
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