The COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe for nearly 3 years. From the delta to omicron variants or the new strain of coronavirus, the virus mutates continuously to break the immunity that people have built to find a way for surviving. Daan Gene constantly monitors the SARS-CoV-2 variants and is devoted to providing high-quality PCR covid-19 test kits to combat the pandemic.
SARS-CoV-2 Omicron remains the main strain of Covid-19 based on the CDC report, which is a threat to public health. Omicron variant has developed into hundreds of sublineages, such as BA.1, BA.2, BA.2.12.1, BA.4, and BA.5, which become dominant variants spread over the globe. Compared with other SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs), the Omicron variant and its subtypes present stronger transmissibility and immune evasion from neutralizing antibodies generated through previous infection or vaccination, which have caused numerous re-infections and breakthrough infections. Compared to original SARS-CoV-2, Omicron sublineages contain numerous different amino acid sequences in their S proteins, nucleocapsid (N) proteins, and other structural or on-structural proteins.[1]
The multiple mutations of the spike protein S gene lead to significant improvement in virus transmission ability and membrane fusion ability. Mutations of K417N, Q493R, N501Y, and Y505H may enhance the binding ability of the virus to hACE2 and increase its infectivity. Mutations such as S477N, T478K, and E484K enhance the affinity of the virus with the hACE2 receptor and are related to immune escape. In addition, H655Y and N679K mutations can improve the immune-escape ability and enhance the viral fusogenicity of Omicron variants.
BF.7(alias for BA.5.2.1.7) is originate from B.5 subvariant. BF.7 shows a stronger capability to escape the antibodies from previous infection and vaccination than other omicron subvariants (BA.2, BA.3, BA.4, as well as BA.5) due to its high convergence of spike protein mutations found in BF.7 variant. What’s more, BF.7 shows high neutralization resistance, so BA.2.75.2 may better evade immune responses than the previous subvariants. Therefore, people may reinfect with the new variants.
From UK data, BQ.X, BA.2.75.2 and BF.7 are the most concerning variants in terms of both growth and neutralization data at present.
Data from USA CDC show that in the last few weeks BF.7 variant incidence has doubled in the United States.
Source: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions
Daan Gene PCR Test for Covid-19 Variant
Early diagnosis of COVID-19 is vital to stop further infections and the development of severe disease. According to WHO's recommendation, Nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT) are the reference standard for diagnosis of acute SARS-CoV-2 infection.[4] Laboratory-based PCR tests are considered the most sensitive tests for SARS-CoV-2 detection.
Compare with the variants mutation sites detected in the following tables, there are no variants fallen in the detection site of our product, which will not cause off-target and missed detection. At the same time, our company will pay close attention to the variants of 2019 Novel Coronavirus in the world,and update the products in time to maintain the sensitivity and specificity of the omicron variant test kit.
With our analysis of the detection region of Detection Kits for 2019-nCoV(PCR Fluorescence)produced by Daan Gene Co., Ltd., including the following registered products:
DaAn Gene Covid-19 Test Kit | Catalogue No. | Product Details |
Detection Kit for 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) RNA (PCR-Fluorescence Probing) | DA0930, DA0931, DA0932, DA0933, DA0934 | |
Detection Kit for 2019-nCoV (PCR-Fluorescence) | DA0990, DA0991, DA0992, DA0993, DA0994, DA0995, DA0996, DA0997 | |
Detection Kit for 2019-nCoV (N/E/RDRP Gene) | DA1170, DA1171 |
>> Learn More about DaAn Gene Covid-19 Test Kit
Daan Gene will pay close attention to the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 variants. If new variant strains emerge, we will re-evaluate the detection accuracy to ensure the performance of our Covid-19 test kit maintains high sensitivity and specificity. As the leading IVD enterprise, Daan Gene is committed to providing laboratories with high-quality molecular diagnosis solutions.
Reference:
1. Xia, S., Wang, L., Zhu, Y. et al. Origin, virological features, immune evasion and intervention of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron sublineages. Sig Transduct Target Ther 7, 241 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41392-022-01105-9
2. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(22)00663-6
4. https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/342002/WHO-2019-nCoV-lab-testing-2021.1-eng.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
