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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Infectious Diseases: Epidemiology and Prevention
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1416900

COVID-19 outbreaks caused by different SARS-CoV-2 variants: a descriptive, comparative study from China

Provisionally accepted
Cao Chen Cao Chen 1Yenan Feng Yenan Feng 1Cao Chen Cao Chen 1Mingfan Pang Mingfan Pang 2Qi Shi Qi Shi 1Xuejun Ma Xuejun Ma 1Xiao-Ping Dong Xiao-Ping Dong 1*
  • 1 National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC), Beijing, China
  • 2 Chinese Center For Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objectives: To understand the epidemic characteristics of various SARS-CoV-2 variants, we mainly focus on the analysis of the general epidemic profiles, viral mutation and evolution of COVID-19 outbreaks caused by different SARS-CoV-2 VOCs in the mainland of China as of August 2022. Methods: We systematically sorted out the general profiles of outbreaks caused by various SARS-CoV-2 VOCs in the mainland of China, compared the differences of outbreaks caused by Delta and Omicron VOCs, and analyzed the mutational changes of subvariants between the same outbreak and different outbreaks.Findings: By Aug 15, 2022, 2, 33 and 124 COVID-19 outbreaks caused by Alpha, Delta and Omicron VOCs were reported in the different areas of mainland of China, respectively. In terms of the number of outbreaks, the range of affecting or overflowing areas, the number of confirmed cases, Omicron VOCs were more significant than the other VOCs. The most frequently circulating PANGO lineages in the mainland of China were B.1.617.2 and AY.122 in Delta VOCs, and BA.2.2.1, BA.2, BA.2.2 and BA.5 in Omicron VOCs. Additional mutations in the genome of SARS-CoV-2 strain were frequently observed in the outbreaks with long lasting duration and more infected cases. Conclusions: Through the comprehensive analysis of the COVID-19 outbreaks, influences and evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 variants strain in the mainland of China, we found differences in the outbreaks caused by Delta and Omicron VOCs, and the 删除了: analyze 46 删除了: features 47 删除了: (eg. age distributions, evolution of variants, 48 epidemic times) 49 删除了: variants 50 删除了: outbreaks 51 3 genome of SARS-CoV-2 continued to evolve within the same outbreak and between outbreaks occurring in different places or times. It is suggested that rapid containment of omicron virus outbreak can not only reduce the affected area, but also delay the mutation frequency of the virus.

    Keywords: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, outbreak, variants, omicron

    Received: 13 Apr 2024; Accepted: 07 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Chen, Feng, Chen, Pang, Shi, Ma and Dong. 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) or licensor 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: Xiao-Ping Dong, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC), Beijing, China

    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.