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Updated: Oct 8, 2025

Live Imaging and Quantification of Viral Infection in K18 hACE2 Transgenic Mice Using Reporter-Expressing Recombinant SARS-CoV-2
Published on: November 5, 2021
Updated picture of SARS-CoV-2 variants and mutations
Giuseppe Lippi1, Camilla Mattiuzzi2, Brandon M Henry3,4
1Section of Clinical Biochemistry and School of Medicine, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Insights
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic continues globally, with evolving variants and mutations challenging vaccine and treatment effectiveness. This review details COVID-19 variants and mutations from late 2019 to late 2021.
Area of Science:
- Virology
- Epidemiology
- Public Health
Background:
- The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2, has resulted in millions of infections and deaths worldwide.
- Preventive measures like lockdowns and masking show limited long-term efficacy.
- Existing vaccines face challenges from low uptake, variable efficacy, and emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants.
Purpose of the Study:
- To provide an updated overview of SARS-CoV-2 variants and mutations.
- To track the emergence and characteristics of new strains.
- To inform ongoing strategies against the evolving pandemic.
Main Methods:
- Review of scientific literature and public health data.
- Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 genomic sequences.
- Tracking of reported variants and mutations.
Main Results:
- Significant global burden of COVID-19 with ongoing infections and fatalities.
- Identification of numerous SARS-CoV-2 variants and mutations since late 2019.
- Emergence of new variants potentially impacting vaccine and treatment efficacy.
Conclusions:
- The continuous evolution of SARS-CoV-2 necessitates ongoing monitoring of variants and mutations.
- Adaptation of public health strategies and medical interventions is crucial.
- Further research is needed to address the challenges posed by new viral strains.
Abstract:
The worldwide burden of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is still unremittingly prosecuting, with nearly 300 million infections and over 5.3 million deaths recorded so far since the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) pandemic at the end of the year 2019. The fight against this new highly virulent beta coronavirus appears one of the most strenuous and long challenges that humanity has ever faced, since a definitive treatment has not been identified so far. The adoption of potentially useful physical preventive measures such as lockdowns, social distancing and face masking seems only partially effective for mitigating viral spread, though efficacy and continuation of such measures on the long term is questionable, due to many social and economic reasons. Many COVID-19 vaccines have been developed and are now widely used, though their effectiveness is challenged by several aspects such as low uptake and limited efficacy in some specific populations, as well as by continuous emergence of new mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 genome, accompanying the origin and spread of new variants, which in turn may contribute to further decrease the effectiveness of current vaccines and treatments. This article is hence aimed to provide an updated picture of SARS-CoV-2 variants and mutations that have emerged from November 2019 to present time (i.e., early December 2021).
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