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. 2021 Jun;26(23):2100447.
doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.23.2100447.

The SARS-CoV-2 B.1.351 lineage (VOC β) is outgrowing the B.1.1.7 lineage (VOC α) in some French regions in April 2021

Bénédicte Roquebert  1 , Sabine Trombert-Paolantoni  1 , Stéphanie Haim-Boukobza  1 , Emmanuel Lecorche  1 , Laura Verdurme  1 , Vincent Foulongne  2 , Mircea T Sofonea  3   4 , Samuel Alizon  3   4
Affiliations

The SARS-CoV-2 B.1.351 lineage (VOC β) is outgrowing the B.1.1.7 lineage (VOC α) in some French regions in April 2021

Bénédicte Roquebert et al. Euro Surveill. 2021 Jun.

Abstract

To assess SARS-CoV-2 variants spread, we analysed 36,590 variant-specific reverse-transcription-PCR tests performed on samples from 12 April-7 May 2021 in France. In this period, contrarily to January-March 2021, variants of concern (VOC) β (B.1.351 lineage) and/or γ (P.1 lineage) had a significant transmission advantage over VOC α (B.1.1.7 lineage) in Île-de-France (15.8%; 95% confidence interval (CI): 15.5-16.2) and Hauts-de-France (17.3%; 95% CI: 15.9-18.7) regions. This is consistent with VOC β's immune evasion abilities and high proportions of prior-SARS-CoV-2-infected persons in these regions.

Keywords: COVID-19; RT-PCR; epidemiology; immune evasion; statistical modelling; variant; virus.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Raw daily cumulative frequencies of variant-specific reverse-transcription PCR test results for SARS-CoV-2 in eight French regions, 12 April–7 May 2021 (n = 33,583)a
Figure 2
Figure 2
Estimated evolution of proportions of B.1.351/P.1a (VOC β/γ) with respect to B.1.1.7 (VOC α), excluding other lineages, in Île-de-France and Hauts-de-France, France, 9 April–28 May 2021
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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