Nature Communications (Oct 2022)
Clinical severity of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 lineages compared to BA.1 and Delta in South Africa
- Nicole Wolter,
- Waasila Jassat,
- Sibongile Walaza,
- Richard Welch,
- Harry Moultrie,
- Michelle J. Groome,
- Daniel Gyamfi Amoako,
- Josie Everatt,
- Jinal N. Bhiman,
- Cathrine Scheepers,
- Naume Tebeila,
- Nicola Chiwandire,
- Mignon du Plessis,
- Nevashan Govender,
- Arshad Ismail,
- Allison Glass,
- Koleka Mlisana,
- Wendy Stevens,
- Florette K. Treurnicht,
- Kathleen Subramoney,
- Zinhle Makatini,
- Nei-yuan Hsiao,
- Raveen Parboosing,
- Jeannette Wadula,
- Hannah Hussey,
- Mary-Ann Davies,
- Andrew Boulle,
- Anne von Gottberg,
- Cheryl Cohen
Affiliations
- Nicole Wolter
- Centre for Respiratory Diseases and Meningitis, National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) of the National Health Laboratory Service
- Waasila Jassat
- Division of Public Health Surveillance and Response, National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) of the National Health Laboratory Service
- Sibongile Walaza
- Centre for Respiratory Diseases and Meningitis, National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) of the National Health Laboratory Service
- Richard Welch
- Division of Public Health Surveillance and Response, National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) of the National Health Laboratory Service
- Harry Moultrie
- School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand
- Michelle J. Groome
- School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand
- Daniel Gyamfi Amoako
- Centre for Respiratory Diseases and Meningitis, National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) of the National Health Laboratory Service
- Josie Everatt
- Centre for Respiratory Diseases and Meningitis, National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) of the National Health Laboratory Service
- Jinal N. Bhiman
- Centre for HIV and STIs, National Institute for Communicable Diseases of the National Health Laboratory Service
- Cathrine Scheepers
- Centre for HIV and STIs, National Institute for Communicable Diseases of the National Health Laboratory Service
- Naume Tebeila
- Centre for Respiratory Diseases and Meningitis, National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) of the National Health Laboratory Service
- Nicola Chiwandire
- Centre for Respiratory Diseases and Meningitis, National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) of the National Health Laboratory Service
- Mignon du Plessis
- Centre for Respiratory Diseases and Meningitis, National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) of the National Health Laboratory Service
- Nevashan Govender
- Division of Public Health Surveillance and Response, National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) of the National Health Laboratory Service
- Arshad Ismail
- Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Agriculture, University of Venda
- Allison Glass
- School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand
- Koleka Mlisana
- School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand
- Wendy Stevens
- School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand
- Florette K. Treurnicht
- School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand
- Kathleen Subramoney
- School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand
- Zinhle Makatini
- School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand
- Nei-yuan Hsiao
- National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS)
- Raveen Parboosing
- School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand
- Jeannette Wadula
- School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand
- Hannah Hussey
- Western Cape Government: Health and Wellness, and School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape Town
- Mary-Ann Davies
- Western Cape Government: Health and Wellness, and School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape Town
- Andrew Boulle
- Western Cape Government: Health and Wellness, and School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape Town
- Anne von Gottberg
- Centre for Respiratory Diseases and Meningitis, National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) of the National Health Laboratory Service
- Cheryl Cohen
- Centre for Respiratory Diseases and Meningitis, National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) of the National Health Laboratory Service
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-33614-0
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 13,
no. 1
pp. 1 – 8
Abstract
South Africa experienced a resurgence in COVID-19 in 2022 driven by Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5. Here, the authors investigate the severity of infections caused by these subvariants, and find no difference in the risk of severe outcomes when compared to Omicron BA.1, whilst all Omicron subvariants were less severe than Delta.
