Análise filogenética da variante Gamma (p.1) do SARS-COV-2 circulante no estado do Rio Grande do Norte

Abstract

One of the biggest health crises was due to the new coronavirus, which initially caused a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) in early 2020 and was then declared by the World Health Organization as a pandemic. The first cases were reported in late 2019 in Wuhan Province, China. Since then, epidemiological investigations with patients have been initiated. Soon after, the virus reached European countries until it reached other continents. The present study aims to evaluate the phylogenetic analysis and phylogeography of the SARS-cov-2 gamma variant in the state of Rio Grande do Norte. Phylogenetic analysis of SARS-CoV-2 genomes was used to study the evolutionary history of the virus and helps to infer its probable origin in Brazil and the State of Rio Grande do Norte. In this way, nasal secretion samples from patients suspected of having SARS-CoV-2 infection from different regions of Rio Grande do Norte were subjected to the viral RNA extraction process and real-time RT-PCR at the Central Health Laboratory. of Rio Grande do Norte (LACEN/RN). Subsequently, those that tested positive were sent to Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (RJ) for molecular characterization through genetic sequencing and deposited in the Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data (GISAID) platform. From this analysis, it is suggestive that the gamma variant originated in March 2021 in Manaus in the state of Amazonas and was distributed across adjacent states and countries. The analysis also indicated that in Rio Grande do Norte the initial introduction occurred from samples from São Paulo, but then there were also introductions with ancestry from Pernambuco and Amazonas, thus spreading rapidly throughout the state. The lack of scientific knowledge about the virus was the biggest challenge to fight it, however with the sequencing technology it was possible to discover essential information that contributed to the production of vaccines and to understand its dynamics, favoring the reduction of cases, in addition to providing monitoring of the dissemination almost in real time on a global scale.