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CORRECTION article

Front. Med., 17 May 2023
Sec. Infectious Diseases: Pathogenesis and Therapy
Volume 10 - 2023 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2023.1211944

Corrigendum: Identification and analysis of SARS-CoV-2 alpha variants in the largest Taiwan COVID-19 outbreak in 2021

This article is a correction to:

  1. Identification and Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 Alpha Variants in the Largest Taiwan COVID-19 Outbreak in 2021

    1. Read original article
\r\nLi-Teh LiuLi-Teh Liu1Jih-Jin Tsai,, Jih-Jin Tsai2,3,4*Ko Chang,,&#x;Ko Chang2,4,5†Chun-Hong Chen,&#x;Chun-Hong Chen6,7†Ping-Chang LinPing-Chang Lin2Ching-Yi TsaiChing-Yi Tsai2Yan-Yi TsaiYan-Yi Tsai2Miao-Chen HsuMiao-Chen Hsu2Wan-Long Chuang,Wan-Long Chuang4,8Jer-Ming Chang,,Jer-Ming Chang4,9,10Shang-Jyh Hwang,Shang-Jyh Hwang4,9Inn-Wen Chong,Inn-Wen Chong11,12
  • 1Department of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, College of Medical Technology, Chung Hwa University of Medical Technology, Tainan, Taiwan
  • 2Tropical Medicine Center, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
  • 3Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
  • 4School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
  • 5Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Municipal Siaogang Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
  • 6National Mosquito-Borne Diseases Control Research Center, National Health Research Institutes, Zhunan, Taiwan
  • 7National Institute of Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology, National Health Research Institutes, Zhunan, Taiwan
  • 8Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
  • 9Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
  • 10Department of Medical Research, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
  • 11Department of Internal Medicine and Graduate Institute of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
  • 12Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

A corrigendum on
Identification and analysis of SARS-CoV-2 alpha variants in the largest Taiwan COVID-19 outbreak in 2021

by Liu, L.-T., Tsai, J.-J., Chang, K., Chen, C.-H., Lin, P.-C., Tsai, C.-Y., Tsai, Y.-Y., Hsu, M.-C., Chuang, W.-L., Chang, J.-M., Hwang, S.-J., and Chong, I.-W. (2022). Front. Med. 9:869818. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2022.869818

In the published article, there was an error. “D614G” was incorrectly written as “G614G” in the Abstract.

A correction has been made to the Abstract. This section previously stated:

“Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is believed to have originated in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, in December 2019. Infection with this highly dangerous human-infecting coronavirus via inhalation of respiratory droplets from SARS-CoV-2 carriers results in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which features clinical symptoms such as fever, dry cough, shortness of breath, and life-threatening pneumonia. Several COVID-19 waves arose in Taiwan from January 2020 to March 2021, with the largest outbreak ever having a high case fatality rate (CFR) (5.95%) between May and June 2021. In this study, we identified five 20I (alpha, V1)/B.1.1.7/GR SARS-CoV-2 (KMUH-3 to 7) lineage viruses from COVID-19 patients in this largest COVID-19 outbreak. Sequence placement analysis using the existing SARS-CoV-2 phylogenetic tree revealed that KMUH-3 originated from Japan and that KMUH-4 to KMUH-7 possibly originated via local transmission. Spike mutations M1237I and D614G were identified in KMUH-4 to KMUH-7 as well as in 43 other alpha/B.1.1.7 sequences of 48 alpha/B.1.1.7 sequences deposited in GISAID derived from clinical samples collected in Taiwan between 20 April and July. However, M1237I mutation was not observed in the other 12 alpha/B.1.1.7 sequences collected between 26 December 2020, and 12 April 2021. We conclude that the largest COVID-19 outbreak in Taiwan between May and June 2021 was initially caused by the alpha/B.1.1.7 variant harboring spike D614G + M1237I mutations, which was introduced to Taiwan by China Airlines cargo crew members. To our knowledge, this is the first documented COVID-19 outbreak caused by alpha/B.1.1.7 variant harboring spike M1237I mutation thus far. The largest COVID-19 outbreak in Taiwan resulted in 13,795 cases and 820 deaths, with a high CFR, at 5.95%, accounting for 80.90% of all cases and 96.47% of all deaths during the first 2 years. The high CFR caused by SARS-CoV-2 alpha variants in Taiwan can be attributable to comorbidities and low herd immunity. We also suggest that timely SARS-CoV-2 isolation and/or sequencing are of importance in real-time epidemiological investigations and in epidemic prevention. The impact of G614G + M1237I mutations in the spike gene on the SARS-CoV-2 virus spreading as well as on high CFR remains to be elucidated.”

The corrected section appears below:

“Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is believed to have originated in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, in December 2019. Infection with this highly dangerous human-infecting coronavirus via inhalation of respiratory droplets from SARS-CoV-2 carriers results in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which features clinical symptoms such as fever, dry cough, shortness of breath, and life-threatening pneumonia. Several COVID-19 waves arose in Taiwan from January 2020 to March 2021, with the largest outbreak ever having a high case fatality rate (CFR) (5.95%) between May and June 2021. In this study, we identified five 20I (alpha, V1)/B.1.1.7/GR SARS-CoV-2 (KMUH-3 to 7) lineage viruses from COVID-19 patients in this largest COVID-19 outbreak. Sequence placement analysis using the existing SARS-CoV-2 phylogenetic tree revealed that KMUH-3 originated from Japan and that KMUH-4 to KMUH-7 possibly originated via local transmission. Spike mutations M1237I and D614G were identified in KMUH-4 to KMUH-7 as well as in 43 other alpha/B.1.1.7 sequences of 48 alpha/B.1.1.7 sequences deposited in GISAID derived from clinical samples collected in Taiwan between 20 April and July. However, M1237I mutation was not observed in the other 12 alpha/B.1.1.7 sequences collected between 26 December 2020, and 12 April 2021. We conclude that the largest COVID-19 outbreak in Taiwan between May and June 2021 was initially caused by the alpha/B.1.1.7 variant harboring spike D614G + M1237I mutations, which was introduced to Taiwan by China Airlines cargo crew members. To our knowledge, this is the first documented COVID-19 outbreak caused by alpha/B.1.1.7 variant harboring spike M1237I mutation thus far. The largest COVID-19 outbreak in Taiwan resulted in 13,795 cases and 820 deaths, with a high CFR, at 5.95%, accounting for 80.90% of all cases and 96.47% of all deaths during the first 2 years. The high CFR caused by SARS-CoV-2 alpha variants in Taiwan can be attributable to comorbidities and low herd immunity. We also suggest that timely SARS-CoV-2 isolation and/or sequencing are of importance in real-time epidemiological investigations and in epidemic prevention. The impact of D614G + M1237I mutations in the spike gene on the SARS-CoV-2 virus spreading as well as on high CFR remains to be elucidated.”

In the published article, there was an error. “D614G” was incorrectly written as “G614G” in the Conclusion.

A correction has been made to the Conclusion. This section previously stated:

“In this study, we isolated four 20I (alpha, V1)/B.1.1.7/GRY SARS-CoV-2 strains by using VERO E6 cell culture and identified five SARS-CoV-2 sequences from COVID-19 patients in the largest COVID-19 outbreak in Taiwan between April and June 2021. Sequence placement analysis of the existing SARS-CoV-2 phylogenetic tree by using UShER revealed that KMUH-3 originated from Japan and KMUH-4 to KMUH-7 possibly through local transmission. We conclude that the largest COVID-19 outbreak in Taiwan between May and June 2021 was initially caused by the alpha/B.1.1.7 variant containing spike D614G + M1237I mutations, which was introduced to Taiwan by cargo crew members of China Airlines. The largest COVID-19 outbreak in Taiwan resulted in 13,795 cases and 820 deaths, with a 5.95% CFR, accounting for 80.90% of all cases and 96.47% of all deaths during the first 2 years of COVID-19. The high CFR caused by SARS-CoV-2 alpha variants in Taiwan can be attributable to comorbidities and low herd immunity. We also suggest that SARS-CoV-2 isolation and sequencing of isolates in a timely manner are of great importance in real-time epidemiological investigations and epidemic prevention. The impact of G614G + M1237I mutations in the spike gene on the SARS-CoV-2 virus spreading as well as on high CFR remains to be elucidated.”

The corrected section appears below:

“In this study, we isolated four 20I (alpha, V1)/B.1.1.7/GRY SARS-CoV-2 strains by using VERO E6 cell culture and identified five SARS-CoV-2 sequences from COVID-19 patients in the largest COVID-19 outbreak in Taiwan between April and June 2021. Sequence placement analysis of the existing SARS-CoV-2 phylogenetic tree by using UShER revealed that KMUH-3 originated from Japan and KMUH-4 to KMUH-7 possibly through local transmission. We conclude that the largest COVID-19 outbreak in Taiwan between May and June 2021 was initially caused by the alpha/B.1.1.7 variant containing spike D614G + M1237I mutations, which was introduced to Taiwan by cargo crew members of China Airlines. The largest COVID-19 outbreak in Taiwan resulted in 13,795 cases and 820 deaths, with a 5.95% CFR, accounting for 80.90% of all cases and 96.47% of all deaths during the first 2 years of COVID-19. The high CFR caused by SARS-CoV-2 alpha variants in Taiwan can be attributable to comorbidities and low herd immunity. We also suggest that SARS-CoV-2 isolation and sequencing of isolates in a timely manner are of great importance in real-time epidemiological investigations and epidemic prevention. The impact of D614G + M1237I mutations in the spike gene on the SARS-CoV-2 virus spreading as well as on high CFR remains to be elucidated.”

The authors apologize for these errors and state that this does not change the scientific conclusions of the article in any way. The original article has been updated.

Publisher's note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Keywords: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, qRT-PCR, virus culture, next-generation sequencing, clade replacements, phylogenetic analysis, alpha/B.1.1.7

Citation: Liu L-T, Tsai J-J, Chang K, Chen C-H, Lin P-C, Tsai C-Y, Tsai Y-Y, Hsu M-C, Chuang W-L, Chang J-M, Hwang S-J and Chong I-W (2023) Corrigendum: Identification and analysis of SARS-CoV-2 alpha variants in the largest Taiwan COVID-19 outbreak in 2021. Front. Med. 10:1211944. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2023.1211944

Received: 25 April 2023; Accepted: 28 April 2023;
Published: 17 May 2023.

Edited and reviewed by: Sanjay Kumar, Armed Forces Medical College, Pune, India

Copyright © 2023 Liu, Tsai, Chang, Chen, Lin, Tsai, Tsai, Hsu, Chuang, Chang, Hwang and Chong. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Jih-Jin Tsai, jijits@cc.kmu.edu.tw

†These authors have contributed equally to this work

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.