COVID-19 Variants of Concern

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] ; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Mohamed Riad, M.D.[2] Deekshitha Manney, M. D[3]

Overview

As a result of mutations occurring in COVID-19 virus, new variants of COVID-19 emerge and most of them are being tracked in the United States. The "variants of concern" refer to those COVID-19 variants with clear evidence of an increased rate of transmission, severe illness and death, marked decrease in neutralization by antibodies produced as a result of previous infection or vaccination, decreased effectiveness of vaccines or treatments, or failure of diagnostic detection.

Variants of Concern

As in all viruses, COVID-19 virus continuously undergo spontaneous mutations followed by emergence of new variants of COVID-19. Some of these variants appear then disappear; however, others persist causing global pandemic. The best way to fight against the appearance of new variants is commitment to the protective measures.

The "variants of concern" refer to those COVID-19 variants with clear evidence of an increased rate of transmission, severe illness and death, marked decrease in neutralization by antibodies produced as a result of previous infection or vaccination, decreased effectiveness of vaccines or treatments, or failure of diagnostic detection.

1)Omicron - B.1.1.529