Relative infectivity of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant in human alveolar cells.
iScience
; 25(12): 105571, 2022 Dec 22.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2105157
ABSTRACT
With the continuous emergence of highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 variants, the comparison of their infectivity has become a critical issue for public health. However, a direct assessment of the viral characteristic has been challenging because of the lack of appropriate experimental models and efficient methods. Here, we integrated human alveolar organoids and single-cell transcriptome sequencing to facilitate the evaluation. In a proof-of-concept study with four highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 variants, including GR (B.1.1.119), Alpha (B.1.1.7), Delta (B.1.617.2), and Omicron (BA.1), a rapid evaluation of the relative infectivity was possible. Our system demonstrates that the Omicron variant is 5- to 7-fold more infectious to human alveolar cells than the other SARS-CoV-2 variants at the initial stage of infection. To our knowledge, for the first time, this study measures the relative infectivity of the Omicron variant under multiple virus co-infection and provides new experimental procedures that can be applied to monitor emerging viral variants.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
Topics:
Variants
Language:
English
Journal:
IScience
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS