SARS-COV-2: INSIGHT INTO THE EMERGING GENETIC VARIANTS

Mini Review

Authors

  • Prof. Neli Korsun National Centre of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases Author
  • Ivelina Trifonova National Centre of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases Author
  • Veselin Dobrinov National Centre of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases Author
  • Iliyana Grigorova National Centre of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases Author
  • Svetla Angelova National Centre of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases Author
  • Assoc. prof. Ivaylo Alexiev National Centre of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases Author https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3186-1124

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.58395/pipd.v49i3.73

Keywords:

SARS-CoV-2, mutation, genetic variant

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 is a highly contagious virus, which appeared in China in late 2019, spread rapidly and caused the largest pandemic in the last 100 years. Despite the intensive research, there is no specific antiviral drug currently. Effective vaccines have been developed in a short time and they are already widely used. As a RNA virus, SARS-CoV-2 mutates constantly, and several thousand genetic variants have emerged in the course of the pandemic, some of which are associated with increased infectivity, reinfection risk, reduced activity of therapeutic antibodies and reduced effectiveness of vaccines. This review highlights the features in SARS-CoV-2 structure and replication cycle that would help to understand the significance of individual mutations contained in the emerging genetic variants and to predict the impact of mutations on viral transmissibility, disease severity, diagnostics, therapeutics or immune escape. The main characteristics of the variants of concern are presented.

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Author Biographies

  • Prof. Neli Korsun, National Centre of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases

    National Laboratory “Influenza and ARD”

  • Ivelina Trifonova, National Centre of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases

    National Laboratory “Influenza and ARD”

  • Veselin Dobrinov, National Centre of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases

    National Laboratory “Influenza and ARD”

  • Iliyana Grigorova, National Centre of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases

    National Laboratory “Influenza and ARD”

  • Svetla Angelova, National Centre of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases

    National Laboratory “Influenza and ARD”

  • Assoc. prof. Ivaylo Alexiev, National Centre of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases

    NCL “HIV”, Department of Virology

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Published

2022-02-25

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Articles

How to Cite

(1)
Korsun, N.; Trifonova, I.; Dobrinov, V.; Grigorova, I.; Angelova, S.; Alexiev, I. SARS-COV-2: INSIGHT INTO THE EMERGING GENETIC VARIANTS: Mini Review. Probl Infect Parasit Dis 2022, 49 (3), 5-11. https://doi.org/10.58395/pipd.v49i3.73.

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