mSphere (Jun 2021)
Molecular Epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in Greece Reveals Low Rates of Onward Virus Transmission after Lifting of Travel Restrictions Based on Risk Assessment during Summer 2020
- Evangelia Georgia Kostaki,
- Georgios A. Pavlopoulos,
- Kleio-Maria Verrou,
- Giannis Ampatziadis-Michailidis,
- Vaggelis Harokopos,
- Pantelis Hatzis,
- Panagiotis Moulos,
- Nikolaos Siafakas,
- Spyridon Pournaras,
- Christos Hadjichristodoulou,
- Fani Chatzopoulou,
- Dimitrios Chatzidimitriou,
- Periklis Panagopoulos,
- Panagiota Lourida,
- Aikaterini Argyraki,
- Theodoros Lytras,
- Spyros Sapounas,
- Gerasimos Gerolymatos,
- Georgios Panagiotakopoulos,
- Panagiotis Prezerakos,
- Sotirios Tsiodras,
- Vana Sypsa,
- Angelos Hatzakis,
- Cleo Anastassopoulou,
- Nikolaos Spanakis,
- Athanasios Tsakris,
- Meletios Athanasios Dimopoulos,
- Anastasia Kotanidou,
- Petros Sfikakis,
- Georgios Kollias,
- Gkikas Magiorkinis,
- Dimitrios Paraskevis
Affiliations
- Evangelia Georgia Kostaki
- ORCiD
- Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
- Georgios A. Pavlopoulos
- Center of New Biotechnologies & Precision Medicine, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
- Kleio-Maria Verrou
- Center of New Biotechnologies & Precision Medicine, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
- Giannis Ampatziadis-Michailidis
- Center of New Biotechnologies & Precision Medicine, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
- Vaggelis Harokopos
- Institute for Fundamental Biomedical Research, Biomedical Sciences Research Center “Alexander Fleming,” Vari, Greece
- Pantelis Hatzis
- Center of New Biotechnologies & Precision Medicine, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
- Panagiotis Moulos
- Center of New Biotechnologies & Precision Medicine, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
- Nikolaos Siafakas
- Laboratory of Clinical Microbiology, ATTIKON University Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
- Spyridon Pournaras
- Laboratory of Clinical Microbiology, ATTIKON University Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
- Christos Hadjichristodoulou
- Laboratory of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, Larisa, Greece
- Fani Chatzopoulou
- Labnet, Laboratories, Thessaloniki, Greece
- Dimitrios Chatzidimitriou
- Labnet, Laboratories, Thessaloniki, Greece
- Periklis Panagopoulos
- 2nd Department of Internal Medicine, General Hospital of Alexandroupoli, Democritus University of Thrace, Alexandroupoli, Greece
- Panagiota Lourida
- Infectious Diseases Clinic A, Thoracic Diseases General Hospital Sotiria, Athens, Greece
- Aikaterini Argyraki
- Infectious Diseases Clinic A, Thoracic Diseases General Hospital Sotiria, Athens, Greece
- Theodoros Lytras
- School of Medicine, European University Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
- Spyros Sapounas
- National Public Health Organization, Athens, Greece
- Gerasimos Gerolymatos
- National Public Health Organization, Athens, Greece
- Georgios Panagiotakopoulos
- National Public Health Organization, Athens, Greece
- Panagiotis Prezerakos
- Department of Nursing, University of Peloponnese, Tripoli, Greece
- Sotirios Tsiodras
- 4th Department of Internal Medicine, Attikon University Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
- Vana Sypsa
- Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
- Angelos Hatzakis
- Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
- Cleo Anastassopoulou
- Department of Microbiology, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
- Nikolaos Spanakis
- Department of Microbiology, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
- Athanasios Tsakris
- Department of Microbiology, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
- Meletios Athanasios Dimopoulos
- Center of New Biotechnologies & Precision Medicine, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
- Anastasia Kotanidou
- 1st Intensive Care Unit, General Hospital Evangelismos, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
- Petros Sfikakis
- Center of New Biotechnologies & Precision Medicine, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
- Georgios Kollias
- Center of New Biotechnologies & Precision Medicine, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
- Gkikas Magiorkinis
- Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
- Dimitrios Paraskevis
- ORCiD
- Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1128/mSphere.00180-21
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 6,
no. 3
Abstract
Our study based on current state-of-the-art molecular epidemiology methods suggests that virus screening and public health measures after the lifting of travel restrictions prevented SARS-CoV-2 onward transmission from imported cases during summer 2020 in Greece. These findings provide important data on the efficacy of targeted public health measures and have important implications regarding the safety of international travel during a pandemic.
