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. 2021 Apr 19;11(1):8435.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-87713-x.

Global dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 clades and their relation to COVID-19 epidemiology

Samira M Hamed  1 , Walid F Elkhatib  2   3 , Ahmed S Khairalla  4   5   6 , Ayman M Noreddin  7   8
Affiliations

Global dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 clades and their relation to COVID-19 epidemiology

Samira M Hamed et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Expansion of COVID-19 worldwide increases interest in unraveling genomic variations of novel SARS-CoV-2 virus. Metadata of 408,493 SARS-CoV-2 genomes submitted to GISAID database were analyzed with respect to genomic clades and their geographic, age, and gender distributions. Of the currently known SARS-CoV-2 clades, clade GR was the most prevalent worldwide followed by GV then GH. Chronological analysis revealed expansion in SARS-CoV-2 clades carrying D614G mutations with the predominance of the newest clade, GV, in the last three months. D614G clades prevail in countries with more COVID-19 cases. Of them, the clades GH and GR were more frequently recovered from severe or deceased COVID-19 cases. In contrast, G and GV clades showed a significantly higher prevalence among asymptomatic patients or those with mild disease. Metadata analysis showed higher (p < 0.05) prevalence of severe/deceased cases among males than females and predominance of GR clade in female patients. Furthermore, severe disease/death was more prevalent (p < 0.05) in elderly than in adults/children. Higher prevalence of the GV clade in children compared to other age groups was also evident. These findings uniquely provide a statistical evidence on the adaptation-driven evolution of SARS-CoV-2 leading to altered infectivity, virulence, and mortality.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Continent distribution of various SARS-CoV-2 clades. The figure shows the predominance of clade GR in Africa, Asia, Oceania, and South America and the predominance of clade GH in North America. The clades GR and GV predominated in Europe.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Global chronological distribution of SARS-CoV-2 clades in the period from December 2019 till December 2020. Percentages are used for labelling the predominant clade in each month. The emergence of D614G mutation is marked by a red asterisk.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Clinical status of patients infected by SARS-CoV-2 of different clades in different gender groups.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Clinical status of patients infected by SARS-CoV-2 of different clades in different age groups.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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