Impact of Early Pandemic SARS-CoV-2 Lineages Replacement with the Variant of Concern P.1 (Gamma) in Western Bahia, Brazil

Josilene R Pinheiro; Esther C Dos Reis; Jéssica P Farias; Mayanna M C Fogaça; Patrícia de S da Silva; Itana Vivian R Santana; Ana Luiza S Rocha; Paloma O Vidal; Rafael da C Simões; Wilson B Luiz; Alexander Birbrair; Renato S de Aguiar; Renan P de Souza; Vasco A de C Azevedo; Gepoliano Chaves; Aline Belmok; Ricardo Durães-Carvalho; Fernando L Melo; Bergmann M Ribeiro; Jaime Henrique Amorim

doi:10.3390/v14102314

Impact of Early Pandemic SARS-CoV-2 Lineages Replacement with the Variant of Concern P.1 (Gamma) in Western Bahia, Brazil

Viruses. 2022 Oct 21;14(10):2314. doi: 10.3390/v14102314.

Authors

Josilene R Pinheiro^{1

2}, Esther C Dos Reis¹, Jéssica P Farias¹, Mayanna M C Fogaça¹, Patrícia de S da Silva^{1

2}, Itana Vivian R Santana¹, Ana Luiza S Rocha¹, Paloma O Vidal¹, Rafael da C Simões¹, Wilson B Luiz², Alexander Birbrair^{3

4

5}, Renato S de Aguiar^{6

7}, Renan P de Souza⁶, Vasco A de C Azevedo⁶, Gepoliano Chaves⁸, Aline Belmok⁹, Ricardo Durães-Carvalho^{10

11}, Fernando L Melo⁹, Bergmann M Ribeiro⁹, Jaime Henrique Amorim^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Center of Biological Sciences and Health, Federal University of Western Bahia, Barreiras 47805, BA, Brazil.
² Department of Biological Sciences, State University of Santa Cruz, Ilhéus 45662, BA, Brazil.
³ Department of Dermatology, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
⁴ Department of Pathology, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270, MG, Brazil.
⁵ Department of Radiology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY 10032, USA.
⁶ Department of Genetics, Ecology and Evolution, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270, MG, Brazil.
⁷ D'Or Institute of Research, Rio de Janeiro 22281, RJ, Brazil.
⁸ Department of Pediatrics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
⁹ Laboratory of Baculoviruses, University of Brasilia, Brasilia 70910, DF, Brazil.
¹⁰ Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, São Paulo School of Medicine, Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo 04023, SP, Brazil.
¹¹ Post-Graduate Program in Structural and Functional Biology, UNIFESP, São Paulo 04023, SP, Brazil.

Abstract

Background: The correct understanding of the epidemiological dynamics of COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2, is essential for formulating public policies of disease containment.

Methods: In this study, we constructed a picture of the epidemiological dynamics of COVID-19 in a Brazilian population of almost 17000 patients in 15 months. We specifically studied the fluctuations of COVID-19 cases and deaths due to COVID-19 over time according to host gender, age, viral load, and genetic variants.

Results: As the main results, we observed that the numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths due to COVID-19 fluctuated over time and that men were the most affected by deaths, as well as those of 60 or more years old. We also observed that individuals between 30- and 44-years old were the most affected by COVID-19 cases. In addition, the viral loads in the patients' nasopharynx were higher in the early symptomatic period. We found that early pandemic SARS-CoV-2 lineages were replaced by the variant of concern (VOC) P.1 (Gamma) in the second half of the study period, which led to a significant increase in the number of deaths.

Conclusions: The results presented in this study are helpful for future formulations of efficient public policies of COVID-19 containment.

Keywords: COVID-19; impact; variant of concern.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Brazil / epidemiology
COVID-19* / epidemiology
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Nasopharynx
Pandemics
SARS-CoV-2* / genetics

Grants and funding

This research was funded by Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos (FINEP), project 27968—FINEP/RTR/PRPq/REDE/COVID-19—Sub: 09; FINEP 1227/21 Fase II—Corona-ômica BR MCTI Rede nacional de genomas, exoma e transcriptoma de COVID-19. This work was partially supported by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) (Edital n° 9/2020 Prevenção e Combate a Surtos, Endemias, Epidemias e Pandemias” Project number: 88887.504570/2020-00); Rede Corona-ômica BR MCTI/FINEP (Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos, FINEP Project number: 01.20.0029.000462/20). This work was partially supported by the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP), Brazil, grants 2019/01255-9 and 2021/03684-4 (Young Investigator Program).