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

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/orγ (P.1 lineage) had a significant transmission advantage over VOCα (B.1.1.7 lineage) inÎle-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 VOCβ’s immune evasion abilities and high proportions of prior-SARS-CoV-2-infected persons in these regions.

Source: Eurosurveillance - June 10, 2021 Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: B énédicte Roquebert, Sabine Trombert-Paolantoni, Stéphanie Haim-Boukobza, Emmanuel Lecorche, Laura Verdurme, Vincent Foulongne, Mircea T. Sofonea and Samuel Alizon Source Type: research