AUTHOR=Pinho Catarina T. , Vidal Amanda F. , Negri Rocha Tatianne Costa , Oliveira Renato R. M. , da Costa Barros Maria Clara , Closset Laura , Azevedo-Pinheiro Jhully , Braga-da-Silva Cíntia , Silva Caio Santos , Magalhães Leandro L. , do Carmo Pinto Pablo Diego , Souza Giordano Bruno Soares , dos Santos Vieira José Ricardo , Burbano Rommel Mario Rodríguez , de Sousa Maísa Silva , de Souza Jorge Estefano Santana , Nunes Gisele , da Silva Moises Batista , da Costa Patrícia Fagundes , Salgado Claudio Guedes , Sousa Rita Catarina Medeiros , Degrave Wim Maurits Sylvain , Ribeiro-dos-Santos Ândrea , Oliveira Guilherme TITLE=Transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 variants in the Brazilian state of Pará JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health VOLUME=11 YEAR=2023 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1186463 DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2023.1186463 ISSN=2296-2565 ABSTRACT=Introduction

After three years since the beginning of the pandemic, the new coronavirus continues to raise several questions regarding its infectious process and host response. Several mutations occurred in different regions of the SARS-CoV-2 genome, such as in the spike gene, causing the emergence of variants of concern and interest (VOCs and VOIs), of which some present higher transmissibility and virulence, especially among patients with previous comorbidities. It is essential to understand its spread dynamics to prevent and control new biological threats that may occur in the future. In this population_based retrospective observational study, we generated data and used public databases to understand SARS-CoV-2 dynamics.

Methods

We sequenced 1,003 SARS-CoV-2 genomes from naso-oropharyngeal swabs and saliva samples from Pará from May 2020 to October 2022. To gather epidemiological data from Brazil and the world, we used FIOCRUZ and GISAID databases.

Results

Regarding our samples, 496 (49.45%) were derived from female participants and 507 (50.55%) from male participants, and the average age was 43  years old. The Gamma variant presented the highest number of cases, with 290 (28.91%) cases, followed by delta with 53 (5.28%). Moreover, we found seven (0.69%) Omicron cases and 651 (64.9%) non-VOC cases. A significant association was observed between sex and the clinical condition (female, p = 8.65e-08; male, p = 0.008961) and age (p = 3.6e-10).

Discussion

Although gamma had been officially identified only in December 2020/January 2021, we identified a gamma case from Belém (capital of Pará State) dated May 2020 and three other cases in October 2020. This indicates that this variant was circulating in the North region of Brazil several months before its formal identification and that Gamma demonstrated its actual transmission capacity only at the end of 2020. Furthermore, the public data analysis showed that SARS-CoV-2 dispersion dynamics differed in Brazil as Gamma played an important role here, while most other countries reported a new infection caused by the Delta variant. The genetic and epidemiological information of this study reinforces the relevance of having a robust genomic surveillance service that allows better management of the pandemic and that provides efficient solutions to possible new disease-causing agents.