AI Article Synopsis
- Emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2, like the Alpha variant (B.1.1.7), quickly outcompete original strains in humans soon after they appear.
- Research showed that the Alpha variant has higher competitive fitness, meaning it can spread more effectively than earlier strains.
- In hamster models, the Alpha variant was able to replicate and be shed more efficiently in the nasal cavity, highlighting its potential for causing rapid transmission due to lower infection doses.
Article Abstract
Emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2 have been shown to rapidly replace original circulating strains in humans soon after they emerged. There is a lack of experimental evidence to explain how these natural occurring variants spread more efficiently than existing strains of SARS-CoV-2 in transmission. We found that the Alpha variant (B.1.1.7) increased competitive fitness over earlier parental D614G lineages in in-vitro and in-vivo systems. Using hamster transmission model, we further demonstrated that the Alpha variant is able to replicate and shed more efficiently in the nasal cavity of hamsters than other variants with low dose and short duration of exposure. The capability to initiate effective infection with low inocula may be one of the key factors leading to the rapid transmission of emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2.
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Source |
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| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8452646 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s42003-021-02640-x | DOI Listing |
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