skua
Elzi VolkExcellent sleuthing by these Japanese researchers!
“…it is important to keep monitoring the variant at molecular levels, namely PCR & genome sequencing…diagnostic kit should be continuously updated as new variants emerge. Unlike RATs, which require more time-consuming efforts to be adapted to new mutations, RT-qPCR tests will easily be adapted…by designing new primer-probe sets…PCR test should be redundant…examining other domains at the same time….” #virology #sar2
Stealth Omicron: A Novel SARS-CoV-2 Variant That Is Insensitive to RT-qPCR Using the N1 and N2 Primer-Probes
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a novel coronavirus that is causing a worldwide pandemic since the spring of 2020. In Osaka, the second biggest prefecture in Japan, we identified a novel SARS-CoV-2 variant from a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patient that was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using E primers, but not by real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) using the N1 and N2 primer-probe sets recommended by CDC. We analyzed the S and N gene regions by reverse-transcription and nested PCR using the S and N specific primers, and DNA sequencing, and found that this BA.5 variant contained point mutations in the probe sequences of both the N1 and N2 primer-probe regions. This finding led us to affirm the importance of monitoring the genome sequence of the SARS-CoV-2 variants continuously.