Clinical outcomes associated with Mu variant infection during the third epidemic peak of COVID-19 in Colombia.

Background: The higher number of cases and deaths caused by COVID-19 in Colombia occurred during the third epidemic peak, where the Mu variant was associated with 50% of the cases.

Objective: To evaluate the association between the clinical outcome of COVID-19 with health conditions and SARS-CoV-2 lineages.

Methods: In this study, clinical metadata and SARS-CoV-2 lineages from 535 patients with different degrees of COVID-19 severity were obtained after the SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance in Colombia. Then, the associations between these variables were determined using a multidimensional unfolding analysis.

Results: Asymptomatic, symptomatic, severe, and deceased outcomes represented 15.2%, 29.7%, 7.3%, and 47.8% of the cases, respectively. Males tend to develop more serious COVID-19, and severe or fatal outcomes were typically observed in patients aged >60 years with comorbidities, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease, kidney disease, obesity, asthma, and smoking history. The SARS-CoV-2 Mu and Gamma variants dominated the third epidemic peak and accounted for most fatal cases with odd ratio values of 128.2 (CI 53.0-310.1) and 18.6 (CI 8.294-41.917).

Conclusion: This study shows the high impact of SARS-CoV-2 lineages with higher prevalence on public health and the importance of monitoring COVID-19 risk factors to control the associated mortality.