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. 2023 Apr 17;15(4):984.
doi: 10.3390/v15040984.

Genomic Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in Healthcare Workers: A Critical Sentinel Group for Monitoring the SARS-CoV-2 Variant Shift

Dayane Azevedo Padilha  1 , Doris Sobral Marques Souza  1 , Eric Kazuo Kawagoe  1 , Vilmar Benetti Filho  1 , Ariane Nicaretta Amorim  1 , Fernando Hartmann Barazzetti  2 , Marcos André Schörner  2 , Sandra Bianchini Fernandes  3 , Bruna Kellet Coelho  3 , Darcita Buerger Rovaris  3 , Marlei Pickler Debiase Dos Anjos  3 , Juliana Righetto Moser  4 , Fernanda Rosene Melo  4 , Bianca Bittencourt De Souza  4 , Dimitri da Costa Bessa  4 , Fernando Henrique de Paula E Silva Mendes  4 , Alexandra Crispim Boing  2 , Antonio Fernando Boing  2 , Josimari Telino de Lacerda  2 , Guilherme Valle Moura  5 , Daniela Carolina De Bastiani  6 , Milene Höehr de Moraes  6 , Luiz Felipe Valter De Oliveira  6 , Renato Simões Moreira  7 , Patricia Hermes Stoco  1 , Maria Luiza Bazzo  2 , Gislaine Fongaro  1 , Glauber Wagner  1
Affiliations

Genomic Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in Healthcare Workers: A Critical Sentinel Group for Monitoring the SARS-CoV-2 Variant Shift

Dayane Azevedo Padilha et al. Viruses. .

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 genome surveillance is important for monitoring risk groups and health workers as well as data on new cases and mortality rate due to COVID-19. We characterized the circulation of SARS-CoV-2 variants from May 2021 to April 2022 in the state of Santa Catarina, southern Brazil, and evaluated the similarity between variants present in the population and healthcare workers (HCW). A total of 5291 sequenced genomes demonstrated the circulation of 55 strains and four variants of concern (Alpha, Delta, Gamma and Omicron-sublineages BA.1 and BA.2). The number of cases was relatively low in May 2021, but the number of deaths was higher with the Gamma variant. There was a significant increase in both numbers between December 2021 and February 2022, peaking in mid-January 2022, when the Omicron variant dominated. After May 2021, two distinct variant groups (Delta and Omicron) were observed, equally distributed among the five Santa Catarina mesoregions. Moreover, from November 2021 to February 2022, similar variant profiles between HCW and the general population were observed, and a quicker shift from Delta to Omicron in HCW than in the general population. This demonstrates the importance of HCW as a sentinel group for monitoring disease trends in the general population.

Keywords: COVID-19; Omicron; SARS-CoV-2 variants; healthcare workers; sentinel groups.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Number of cases/deaths and variant distribution of SARS-CoV-2 from 1 May 2021 to 30 April 2022. (A) Daily cases and (B) daily deaths, according to the Boa Vista platform (https://dados.sc.gov.br, accessed on 15 December 2022). SARS-CoV-2 variant profile (C) by lineage and (D) by variant of concern (VOC).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparison of relative frequency for each SARS-CoV-2 lineage in healthcare workers and general population during the variant shift from Delta to Omicron.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Multidimensional scale (MDS) with Jaccard dissimilarity plot of genomes based on amino acids and presence/absence of mutations, deletions, and insertions—a comparison between healthcare workers and the general population of Santa Catarina, from November 2021 to February 2022. (A) Displaying Delta and Omicron variants (B) Omicron BA.1 lineage and sublineages.
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