Mary Wilson
New member
This briefing provides an update on the briefing of 14 January 2021
Summary
SGTF detections indicate VOC202012/01 continues to predominate across all regions. S gene target failure remains a well correlated proxy measure of VOC 202012/01. An assessment of severity of disease has been conducted by NERVTAG. A limited number of B.1.1.7 VOC 202012/01 genomes with E484K mutation have been detected.
Nomenclature of variants in the UK
SARS-CoV-2 variants if considered to have concerning epidemiological, immunological or pathogenic properties are raised for formal investigation. At this point they are designated Variant Under Investigation (VUI) with a year, month, and number. Following risk assessment with the relevant expert committee, they may be designated Variant of Concern (VOC). This variant was designated VUI 202012/01 on detection and on review re-designated as VOC 202012/01 on 18 December 2020.
Severity of disease
A summary of the current data and analyses on severity of disease associated with B.1.1.7 is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nervtag-paper-on-covid-19-variant-of-concern- b117
Epidemiological findings
Updated 26 January 2021 to include new data. A matched cohort study was undertaken with SGTF and non-SGTF cases, with matching based on 10-year age bands, sex, week of test and lower-tier local authority. There were 92,207 SGTF cases and an equal number of corresponding comparators included in the matched cohort (n = 184,414). A 28 day case fatality risk was calculated for both SGTF and non-SGTF cases. Initial analysis was completed on 8 January 2021; of 14,939 SGTF cases and 15,555 comparators who had at least 28 days between specimen date and the study period end date. There were 25 deaths (0.17%) in SGTF cases and 26 deaths (0.17%) in comparators (RR 1.00, 95% CI 0.58 – 1.73). On 19/01/2021, updated linkage of deaths data to the same matched cohort provided increased time for follow- up and ascertainment of deaths identified there were 65 deaths among non-SGTF cases (0.1%) and 104 deaths among SGTF cases (0.2%), within 28 days of specimen date. With this, the risk ratio increased to 1.65 (95%CI 1.21-2.25).
S gene target failure/lineage correlation
Only a small fraction of all new cases of VOC 202012/01 are identified by whole-genome sequencing, and this data typically lags test date by approximately 2 weeks, therefore a proxy S gene target failure (SGTF) is used to monitor the VOC.
...
https://assets.publishing.service.g...OC_202012_01_Technical_Briefing_5_England.pdf
Summary
SGTF detections indicate VOC202012/01 continues to predominate across all regions. S gene target failure remains a well correlated proxy measure of VOC 202012/01. An assessment of severity of disease has been conducted by NERVTAG. A limited number of B.1.1.7 VOC 202012/01 genomes with E484K mutation have been detected.
Nomenclature of variants in the UK
SARS-CoV-2 variants if considered to have concerning epidemiological, immunological or pathogenic properties are raised for formal investigation. At this point they are designated Variant Under Investigation (VUI) with a year, month, and number. Following risk assessment with the relevant expert committee, they may be designated Variant of Concern (VOC). This variant was designated VUI 202012/01 on detection and on review re-designated as VOC 202012/01 on 18 December 2020.
Severity of disease
A summary of the current data and analyses on severity of disease associated with B.1.1.7 is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nervtag-paper-on-covid-19-variant-of-concern- b117
Epidemiological findings
Updated 26 January 2021 to include new data. A matched cohort study was undertaken with SGTF and non-SGTF cases, with matching based on 10-year age bands, sex, week of test and lower-tier local authority. There were 92,207 SGTF cases and an equal number of corresponding comparators included in the matched cohort (n = 184,414). A 28 day case fatality risk was calculated for both SGTF and non-SGTF cases. Initial analysis was completed on 8 January 2021; of 14,939 SGTF cases and 15,555 comparators who had at least 28 days between specimen date and the study period end date. There were 25 deaths (0.17%) in SGTF cases and 26 deaths (0.17%) in comparators (RR 1.00, 95% CI 0.58 – 1.73). On 19/01/2021, updated linkage of deaths data to the same matched cohort provided increased time for follow- up and ascertainment of deaths identified there were 65 deaths among non-SGTF cases (0.1%) and 104 deaths among SGTF cases (0.2%), within 28 days of specimen date. With this, the risk ratio increased to 1.65 (95%CI 1.21-2.25).
S gene target failure/lineage correlation
Only a small fraction of all new cases of VOC 202012/01 are identified by whole-genome sequencing, and this data typically lags test date by approximately 2 weeks, therefore a proxy S gene target failure (SGTF) is used to monitor the VOC.
...
https://assets.publishing.service.g...OC_202012_01_Technical_Briefing_5_England.pdf