Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Aga Khan University, Stadium Road, P.O. Box 3500, Karachi, 74800, Pakistan.
Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Sci Rep. 2023 Nov 28;13(1):20955. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-48272-5.
Changing morbidity and mortality due to COVID-19 across the pandemic has been linked with factors such as the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants and vaccination. Mutations in the Spike glycoprotein enhanced viral transmission and virulence. We investigated whether SARS-CoV-2 mutation rates and entropy were associated COVID-19 in Pakistan, before and after the introduction of vaccinations. We analyzed 1,705 SARS-CoV-2 genomes using the Augur phylogenetic pipeline. Substitution rates and entropy across the genome, and in the Spike glycoprotein were compared between 2020, 2021 and 2022 (as periods A, B and C). Mortality was greatest in B whilst cases were highest during C. In period A, G clades were predominant, and substitution rate was 5.25 × 10 per site per year. In B, Delta variants dominated, and substitution rates increased to 9.74 × 10. In C, Omicron variants led to substitution rates of 5.02 × 10. Genome-wide entropy was the highest during B particularly, at Spike E484K and K417N. During C, genome-wide mutations increased whilst entropy was reduced. Enhanced SARS-CoV-2 genome substitution rates were associated with a period when more virulent SARS-CoV-2 variants were prevalent. Reduced substitution rates and stabilization of genome entropy was subsequently evident when vaccinations were introduced. Whole genome entropy analysis can help predict virus evolution to guide public health interventions.
大流行期间 COVID-19 的发病率和死亡率的变化与 SARS-CoV-2 变异株的出现和疫苗接种等因素有关。刺突糖蛋白的突变增强了病毒的传播和毒力。我们研究了在巴基斯坦接种疫苗前后,SARS-CoV-2 的突变率和熵是否与 COVID-19 相关。我们使用 Augur 系统发育管道分析了 1705 个 SARS-CoV-2 基因组。比较了 2020 年、2021 年和 2022 年(分别为 A、B 和 C 期)整个基因组以及刺突糖蛋白中的取代率和熵。B 期死亡率最高,而 C 期病例最多。在 A 期,G 谱系占主导地位,取代率为每年每位点 5.25×10。在 B 期,Delta 变异株占主导地位,取代率增加到 9.74×10。在 C 期,Omicron 变异株导致取代率为 5.02×10。特别是在 Spike 的 E484K 和 K417N 处,B 期的全基因组熵最高。在 C 期,全基因组突变增加,而熵减少。增强的 SARS-CoV-2 基因组取代率与更具毒力的 SARS-CoV-2 变异株流行的时期有关。接种疫苗后,取代率降低,基因组熵稳定。全基因组熵分析有助于预测病毒进化,从而指导公共卫生干预措施。