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https://www.arca.fiocruz.br/handle/icict/68343
TRACKING CRYPTIC SARS-COV-2 HOSPITAL OUTBREAK THROUGH QUASISPECIES ANALYSIS.
Author
Affilliation
Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine. Section of Microbiology. University of Brescia. Brescia, Italy.
Sciences and Technologies for Sustainable Development and One Health. University of Campus Bio-Medico. Rome, Italy. / Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto René Rachou. Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil.
Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine. Section of Microbiology. University of Brescia.Brescia, Italy.
Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine. Section of Microbiology. University of Brescia.Brescia, Italy.
Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine. Section of Microbiology. University of Brescia.Brescia, Italy.
Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine. Section of Microbiology. University of Brescia.Brescia, Italy.
Sciences and Technologies for Sustainable Development and One Health. University of Campus Bio-Medico. Rome, Italy. / Clinical Pathology and Microbiology Laboratory. Unit of Medical Statistics and Molecular Epidemiology. University Hospital Campus Biomedico. Rome, Italy.
Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine. Section of Microbiology. University of Brescia. Brescia, Italy.
Sciences and Technologies for Sustainable Development and One Health. University of Campus Bio-Medico. Rome, Italy. / Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto René Rachou. Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil.
Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine. Section of Microbiology. University of Brescia.Brescia, Italy.
Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine. Section of Microbiology. University of Brescia.Brescia, Italy.
Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine. Section of Microbiology. University of Brescia.Brescia, Italy.
Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine. Section of Microbiology. University of Brescia.Brescia, Italy.
Sciences and Technologies for Sustainable Development and One Health. University of Campus Bio-Medico. Rome, Italy. / Clinical Pathology and Microbiology Laboratory. Unit of Medical Statistics and Molecular Epidemiology. University Hospital Campus Biomedico. Rome, Italy.
Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine. Section of Microbiology. University of Brescia. Brescia, Italy.
Abstract
Background: Since the beginning of the pandemic, contact tracing has been one of the most relevant issues to understand SARS-CoV-2 transmission dynamics and, in this context, the analysis of quasispecies may turn out to be a useful tool for outbreak investigations. Analysis of the intra-host single nucleotide variants (iSNVs) found in the nsp2, ORF3, and ORF7 genes of SARS-CoV-2 was conducted in order to correctly identify virus transmission chain among patients hospitalized in Brescia Civic Hospital.
Methods: During the period between August and October 2023, 13 nasopharyngeal specimens, collected from patients admitted to Brescia Civic Hospital, were tested for SARS-CoV-2 positivity and molecularly characterized. Firstly, a phylogenetic analysis was performed to evaluate if they were epidemiologically linked and, then, the Beta-binomial method was used to estimate the transmission bottleneck size (Nb) and quantify the number of viral particles transmitted from one individual (donor) to another (recipient).
Results: According to the molecular characterization of specimens, we identified two transmission clusters in the cardiology unit: the first cluster concerned patients tested positive for the HV.1/EG.5.1.6 lineage, while the second cluster concerned patients tested positive for the FL.10.1 lineage. Moreover, evaluating the bottleneck size, we were able to solve SARS-CoV-2 transmission chain among infected patients.
Conclusion: Our method shows that it is possible to conduct a tracing study using a genomic approach based on iSNVs analysis.
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