Henriques-Santos Bianca Monteiro, Farjun Bruna, Corrêa Isadora Alonso, Figueiredo Janaina de Barros, Fidalgo-Neto Antonio Augusto, Kuriyama Sergio Noboru
SESI Innovation Center for Occupational Health, Industry Federation of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Department of Virology, Paulo de Góes Institute of Microbiology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Front Microbiol. 2022 Feb 9;12:757783. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.757783. eCollection 2021.
Since the first reported case in December 2019, SARS-CoV-2 infections have become a major public health worldwide. Even with the increasing vaccination in several countries and relaxing of social distancing measures, the pandemic remains a threat especially due to the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants. Despite the presence of an enzyme capable of proofreading its genome, high rates of replication provide a source of accumulation of mutations within the viral genome. In this retrospective study, samples from a cohort of industry workers tested by the SESI's COVID-19 mass testing program from September 2020 to May 2021 were analyzed using a mutation panel in order to describe the circulation of currently identified SARS-CoV-2 variants within the samples obtained in Rio de Janeiro State. Our results demonstrated that the variant of interest (VOI) Zeta has been in circulation since October 2020 and reached 87% of prevalence in February 2021 followed by a decrease due to the emergence of Gamma variant of concern (VOC). Gamma was detected in January 2021 in our studied population, and its prevalence increased during the following months, reaching absolute prevalence within positive samples in May. The Alpha variant was detected only in 4-7% of samples during March and April while Beta VOC was not detected in our study. Our data agree with sequencing genomic surveillance databases and highlight the importance of continuous mass testing programs and variant detection in order to control viral spread and guide public health measures.
自2019年12月首次报告病例以来，新型冠状病毒（SARS-CoV-2）感染已成为全球主要的公共卫生问题。即使在一些国家疫苗接种率不断提高以及社交距离措施有所放宽的情况下，这场大流行仍然是一个威胁，特别是由于新的SARS-CoV-2变种的出现。尽管存在一种能够校对其基因组的酶，但高复制率为病毒基因组内突变的积累提供了一个来源。在这项回顾性研究中，为了描述目前在里约热内卢州采集的样本中已识别的SARS-CoV-2变种的传播情况，我们使用一个突变检测组对2020年9月至2021年5月通过SESI的新冠病毒大规模检测计划检测的一组产业工人的样本进行了分析。我们的结果表明，感兴趣的变种（VOI）Zeta自2020年10月以来一直在传播，并在2021年2月达到87%的流行率，随后由于出现了令人担忧的伽马变种（VOC）而下降。伽马变种于2021年1月在我们的研究人群中被检测到，其流行率在随后几个月中上升，在5月的阳性样本中达到绝对流行率。阿尔法变种在3月和4月仅在4%-7%的样本中被检测到，而贝塔VOC在我们的研究中未被检测到。我们的数据与测序基因组监测数据库一致，并强调了持续大规模检测计划和变种检测对于控制病毒传播和指导公共卫生措施的重要性。
