Emerging SARS-CoV-2 Variants: Genetic Variability and Clinical Implications.

ABSTRACT: The sudden rise in COVID-19 cases in 2020 and the incessant emergence of fast-spreading variants have created an alarming situation worldwide. Besides the continuous advancements in the design and development of vaccines to combat this deadly pandemic, new variants are frequently reported, possessing mutations that rapidly outcompeted an existing population of circulating variants. As concerns grow about the effects of mutations on the efficacy of vaccines, increased transmissibility, immune escape, and diagnostic failures are few other apprehensions liable for more deadly waves of COVID-19. Although the phenomenon of antigenic drift in new variants of SARS-CoV-2 is still not validated, it is conceived that the virus is acquiring new mutations as a fitness advantage for rapid transmission

SUBMITTER: Dubey A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8669229 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature