Publications by authors named "Kai Yi Mok"
Article Synopsis
- * Lineage M1 has emerged as the primary cause of these invasive infections, showing reduced genetic diversity and fewer mutations compared to earlier M1 strains that date back to 2008.
- * Despite being undetected before, M1 clades rapidly spread across the UK after the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting that waning immunity and specific genetic traits enhance their ability to cause epidemics and survive population bottlenecks.
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates bat-borne coronaviruses in the UK, screening 48 faecal samples from various bat species.
- Researchers identified nine complete coronavirus genomes, including two new species, highlighting a range of coronaviruses such as alphacoronaviruses and a MERS-related betacoronavirus.
- One sarbecovirus was found to bind the human ACE2 receptor, indicating potential for human infection, but further mutations are needed for enhanced infectivity, stressing the importance of monitoring these viruses due to their zoonotic risk.
Increasing reports of invasive Streptococcus pyogenes infections mandate surveillance for toxigenic lineage M1. An allele-specific PCR was developed to distinguish M1 from other emm1 strains. The M1 lineage represented 91% of invasive emm1 isolates in England in 2020.
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