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. 2022 May;20(5):251-252.
doi: 10.1038/s41579-022-00722-z.

Antigenic evolution will lead to new SARS-CoV-2 variants with unpredictable severity

Peter V Markov  1 , Aris Katzourakis  2 , Nikolaos I Stilianakis  3   4
Affiliations

Antigenic evolution will lead to new SARS-CoV-2 variants with unpredictable severity

Peter V Markov et al. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2022 May.

Abstract

The comparatively milder infections with the Omicron variant and higher levels of population immunity have raised hopes for a weakening of the pandemic. We argue that the lower severity of Omicron is a coincidence and that ongoing rapid antigenic evolution is likely to produce new variants that may escape immunity and be more severe.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Effects of the interactions between transmissibility, disease severity and immune escape of variants of concern on SARS-CoV-2 population burden.
SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. *All comparisons are with the Wuhan-Hu-1 lineage.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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