Viruses (Mar 2022)

Emergence of Two Distinct SARS-CoV-2 Gamma Variants and the Rapid Spread of P.1-like-II SARS-CoV-2 during the Second Wave of COVID-19 in Santa Catarina, Southern Brazil

  • Dayane Azevedo Padilha,
  • Vilmar Benetti Filho,
  • Renato Simões Moreira,
  • Tatiany Aparecida Teixeira Soratto,
  • Guilherme Augusto Maia,
  • Ana Paula Christoff,
  • Fernando Hartmann Barazzetti,
  • Marcos André Schörner,
  • Fernanda Luiza Ferrari,
  • Carolina Leite Martins,
  • Eric Kazuo Kawagoe,
  • Julia Kinetz Wachter,
  • Paula Sachet,
  • Antuani Rafael Baptistella,
  • Aline Daiane Schlindwein,
  • Bruna Kellet Coelho,
  • Sandra Bianchini Fernandes,
  • Darcita Buerger Rovaris,
  • Marlei Pickler Debiasi dos Anjos,
  • Fernanda Rosene Melo,
  • Bianca Bittencourt,
  • Sthefani Cunha,
  • Karine Lena Meneghetti,
  • Nestor Wendt,
  • Tâmela Zamboni Madaloz,
  • Marcus Vinícius Duarte Rodrigues,
  • Doris Sobral Marques Souza,
  • Milene Höehr de Moraes,
  • Rodrigo de Paula Baptista,
  • Guilherme Toledo-Silva,
  • Guilherme Razzera,
  • Edmundo Carlos Grisard,
  • Patricia Hermes Stoco,
  • Luiz Felipe Valter de Oliveira,
  • Maria Luiza Bazzo,
  • Gislaine Fongaro,
  • Glauber Wagner

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/v14040695
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14, no. 4
p. 695

Abstract

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The western mesoregion of the state of Santa Catarina (SC), Southern Brazil, was heavily affected as a whole by the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2021. This study aimed to evaluate the dynamics of the SARS-CoV-2 virus spreading patterns in the SC state from March 2020 to April 2021 using genomic surveillance. During this period, there were 23 distinct variants, including Beta and Gamma, among which the Gamma and related lineages were predominant in the second pandemic wave within SC. A regionalization of P.1-like-II in the Western SC region was observed, concomitant to the increase in cases, mortality, and the case fatality rate (CFR) index. This is the first evidence of the regionalization of the SARS-CoV-2 transmission in SC and it highlights the importance of tracking the variants, dispersion, and impact of SARS-CoV-2 on the public health systems.

Keywords