On the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 and the emergence of variants of concern

Gkikas Magiorkinis

doi:10.1016/j.tim.2022.10.008

On the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 and the emergence of variants of concern

Trends Microbiol. 2023 Jan;31(1):5-8. doi: 10.1016/j.tim.2022.10.008. Epub 2022 Oct 24.

Author

Gkikas Magiorkinis¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece. Electronic address: gmagi@med.uoa.gr.

Abstract

The epidemiology of COVID-19 has dramatically changed since the beginning of the pandemic as we witnessed significant changes in transmissibility and pathogenicity with the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VoCs). Here I present and comment on working hypotheses about the evolutionary dynamics of the emergence of VoCs.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; immune escape; pathogenicity; transmission; variants of concern.

MeSH terms

COVID-19* / epidemiology
Humans
Pandemics
SARS-CoV-2* / genetics

Supplementary concepts

SARS-CoV-2 variants