Eurosurv. Tracking SARS-CoV-2 lineage B.1.1.7 dissemination: insights from nationwide spike gene target failure (SGTF) and spike gene late detection (

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Tracking SARS-CoV-2 lineage B.1.1.7 dissemination: insights from nationwide spike gene target failure (SGTF) and spike gene late detection (SGTL) data, Portugal, week 49 2020 to week 3 2021

V?tor Borges[SUP]1,2[/SUP] , Carlos Sousa[SUP]2,3[/SUP] , Lu?s Menezes[SUP]4[/SUP] , Ant?nio Maia Gon?alves[SUP]5[/SUP] , Miguel Pic?o[SUP]6[/SUP] , Jos? Pedro Almeida[SUP]7[/SUP] , Margarida Vieita[SUP]7[/SUP] , Rafael Santos[SUP]7[/SUP] , Ana Rita Silva[SUP]3[/SUP] , Mariana Costa[SUP]3[/SUP] , Lu?s Carneiro[SUP]3[/SUP] , Pedro Casaca[SUP]8[/SUP] , Pedro Pinto-Leite[SUP]8[/SUP] , Andr? Peralta-Santos[SUP]8[/SUP] , Joana Isidro[SUP]1[/SUP] , S?lvia Duarte[SUP]9[/SUP] , Lu?s Vieira[SUP]9[/SUP] , Raquel Guiomar[SUP]10[/SUP] , Susana Silva[SUP]11[/SUP] , Baltazar Nunes[SUP]11[/SUP] , Jo?o P Gomes

We show that the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 lineage is highly disseminated in Portugal, with the odds of B.1.1.7 proportion increasing at an estimated 89% (95% confidence interval: 83?95%) per week until week 3 2021. RT-PCR spike gene target late detection (SGTL) can constitute a useful surrogate to track B.1.1.7 spread, besides the spike gene target failure (SGTF) proxy. SGTL/SGTF samples were associated with statistically significant higher viral loads, but not with substantial shift in age distribution compared to non-SGTF/SGTL cases.


full article

https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.10.2100130#html_fulltext