The Omicron Strain of the SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus and Its Variants
- Authors: Sсherbak S.G.1,2, Vologzhanin D.A.1,2, Golota A.S.1, Sarana A.M.2,3, Makarenko S.V.1,2
-
Affiliations:
- Saint Petersburg City Hospital No 40 of Kurortny District
- Saint Petersburg State University
- Health Committee of Saint Petersburg
- Issue: Vol 14, No 3 (2023)
- Pages: 50-68
- Section: Reviews
- URL: https://journals.rcsi.science/clinpractice/article/view/253934
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.17816/clinpract322036
- ID: 253934
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Abstract
The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has been circulating among the world population for 3 years, infecting hundreds of millions of people. Numerous reports from all over the world indicate that the majority of infections are caused by the Omicron variant and its subvariants, which predominate over all the previously emerged variants. The genome of the Omicron strain has accumulated dozens of mutations that increase the virus’s adaptability and cause the emergence of new variants and subvariants with the increased contagiousness, transmissibility, and ability to evade the immune response. This compromises the protection provided by vaccines or the humoral immunity induced by previous infections. Although the biology of SARS-CoV-2 is well understood, its ability to infect, replicate, and spread in a population depends on the specific immune context during different periods of the pandemic. It is assumed that new variants arise as a result of chronic infection in immunocompromised individuals. The intralineage recombination is an opportunity for the virus to gain phenotypic advantages from distantly related circulating variants. The last of the subvariants of the Omicron variant, named «Kraken» due to its unprecedentedly high transmissibility, is a descendant of the recombinant line. The virus is constantly evolving in the direction of evading immune neutralization by vaccines, therefore, a constant work is underway to develop new, more effective vaccines and other antiviral agents.
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##article.viewOnOriginalSite##About the authors
Sergey G. Sсherbak
Saint Petersburg City Hospital No 40 of Kurortny District; Saint Petersburg State University
Email: b40@zdrav.spb.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-5036-1259
SPIN-code: 1537-9822
MD, PhD, Dr. Sci. (Med.), Professor
Russian Federation, Saint Petersburg; Saint PetersburgDmitry A. Vologzhanin
Saint Petersburg City Hospital No 40 of Kurortny District; Saint Petersburg State University
Email: volog@bk.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-1176-794X
SPIN-code: 7922-7302
MD, PhD, Dr. Sci. (Med.)
Russian Federation, Saint Petersburg; Saint PetersburgAleksandr S. Golota
Saint Petersburg City Hospital No 40 of Kurortny District
Author for correspondence.
Email: golotaa@yahoo.com
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-5632-3963
SPIN-code: 7234-7870
MD, PhD, Associate Professor
Russian Federation, Saint PetersburgAndrey M. Sarana
Saint Petersburg State University; Health Committee of Saint Petersburg
Email: asarana@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0003-3198-8990
SPIN-code: 7922-2751
MD, PhD, Associate Professor
Russian Federation, Saint Petersburg; Saint PetersburgStanislav V. Makarenko
Saint Petersburg City Hospital No 40 of Kurortny District; Saint Petersburg State University
Email: st.makarenko@gmail.com
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-1595-6668
SPIN-code: 8114-3984
Assistant Lecturer
Russian Federation, Saint Petersburg; Saint PetersburgReferences
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