Emerging Infectious Diseases (Dec 2021)

Incidence Trends for SARS-CoV-2 Alpha and Beta Variants, Finland, Spring 2021

  • Ravi Kant,
  • Phuoc Truong Nguyen,
  • Soile Blomqvist,
  • Mert Erdin,
  • Hussein Alburkat,
  • Maija Suvanto,
  • Fathiah Zakham,
  • Veera Salminen,
  • Viktor Olander,
  • Minna Paloniemi,
  • Leena Huhti,
  • Sara Lehtinen,
  • Bruno Luukinen,
  • Hanna Jarva,
  • Hannimari Kallio-Kokko,
  • Satu Kurkela,
  • Maija Lappalainen,
  • Hanna Liimatainen,
  • Sari Hannula,
  • Jani Halkilahti,
  • Jonna Ikonen,
  • Niina Ikonen,
  • Otto Helve,
  • Marianne Gunell,
  • Tytti Vuorinen,
  • Ilya Plyusnin,
  • Erika Lindh,
  • Pekka Ellonen,
  • Tarja Sironen,
  • Carita Savolainen-Kopra,
  • Teemu Smura,
  • Olli Vapalahti

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2712.211631
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 27, no. 12
pp. 3137 – 3141

Abstract

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Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 Alpha and Beta variants became dominant in Finland in spring 2021 but had diminished by summer. We used phylogenetic clustering to identify sources of spreading. We found that outbreaks were mostly seeded by a few introductions, highlighting the importance of surveillance and prevention policies.

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