1.
Jpn J Infect Dis
; 74(5): 495-497, 2021 Sep 22.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1436362
2.
Infect Genet Evol
; 94: 105013, 2021 10.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1336736
ABSTRACT
Three COVID-19 waves in Japan have been characterized by the presence of distinct PANGO lineages (B.1.1. 162, B.1.1.284, and B.1.1.214). Recently, in addition to the B.1.1.7 lineage, which shows 25% abundance, an R.1 lineage carrying the E484K mutation in the spike protein was found to show up to 40% predominance. E484K could be a pivotal amino acid substitution with the potential to mediate immune escape; thus, more attention should be paid to such potential variants of concern to avoid the emergence of mutants of concern. Such comprehensive real-time genome surveillance has become essential for the containment of COVID-19 clusters.