Within-Host Diversity of SARS-CoV-2 in COVID-19 Patients With Variable Disease Severities.

ABSTRACT: Background: The ongoing pandemic of SARS-COV-2 has already infected more than eight million people worldwide. The majority of COVID-19 patients either are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms. Yet, about 15% of the cases experience severe complications and require intensive care. Factors determining disease severity are not yet fully characterized. Aim: Here, we investigated the within-host virus diversity in COVID-19 patients with different clinical manifestations. Methods: We compared SARS-COV-2 genetic diversity in 19 mild and 27 severe cases. Viral RNA was extracted from nasopharyngeal samples and sequenced using the Illumina MiSeq platform. This was followed by deep-sequencing analyses of SARS-CoV-2 genomes at both consensus and sub-consensus sequence levels. Res

SUBMITTER: Al Khatib HA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7572854 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature