KRISP NEWS
Efforts to track SARS-CoV-2 sequences have helped identify worrying variants — but researchers are blind to emerging mutations in some regions.
Phylogenetic identification of variants 501Y.V1, 501Y.V2, 501Y.V3 (B.1.1.7, B.1.351, P.1 / Nextstrain 20I, 20H, 20J). Tool also determines nucleotide (NT), amino acids (AA) and codon (CDS) mutations. The mutations list are provided in html and excel formats.
Experts worldwide are urgently studying three coronavirus variants to understand what risks they pose. One variant first identified in the UK, one in South Africa, and one in Japan are probably more contagious than the original strain. They have caused cases to surge and the three nations to lock down. Here are nine key questions about the variants, answered.
One year later and the new coronavirus is still posing new questions for researchers. The recent emergence of new COVID-19 variants across the world has left scientists searching for answers once again as they try to understand what these changes mean for the pandemic — and vaccine roll-outs. As South Africa awaits the arrival of its first shipment of COVID vaccines there are growing concerns about a new coronavirus variant — known as 501Y.V2 — circulating in the country, and what the changes in the virus could mean for how well the jabs work.
A South African tip led to the discovery of mutations around the world. With infections skyrocketing, 'it’s a race against time.'. Doctors and nurses at a South African hospital group noticed an odd spike in the number of Covid-19 patients in their wards in late October...
As more lineages emerge, researchers are struggling with a patchwork of nomenclature.
Researchers race to determine why lineages identified in Britain and South Africa spread so quickly and whether they’ll compromise vaccines.
KRISP SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS
Emergence and rapid spread of a new severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) lineage with multiple spike mutations in South Africa.
Tegally H, Wilkinson E, Giovanetti M, Iranzadeh A, Fonseca V, Giandhari J, Doolabh D, Pillay S, San E, Msomi N, Mlisana K, Gottberg A, Walaza S, Allam M, Ismail A, Mohale T, Glass A, Engelbrecht S, Zyl G, Preiser W, Petruccione F, Sigal A, Hardie D, Marais G, Hsiao M, Korsman S, Davies M, Tyers L, Mudau I, York D, Maslo C, Goedhals D, Abrahams S, Laguda-Akingba O, Alisoltani-Dehkordi A, Godzik A, Wibmer Cos, Sewell B, Lourenço J, Alcantara Ls, Kosakovsky Pond S, Weaver S, Martin D, Lessells R, Bhiman J, Williamson C, de Oliveira T, medRxiv (2020), https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.21.20248640:.
Reduced efficacy of HIV-1 integrase inhibitors in patients with drug resistance mutations in reverse transcriptase.
Siedner MJ, Moorhouse MA, Simmons B, de Oliveira T, Lessells R, Giandhari J, Kemp SA, Chimukangara B, Akpomiemie G, Serenata Cm, Venter WDF, HillA, Gupta RK, Nature Communications (2020), https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19801-x:.
HIV infection alters SARS-CoV-2 responsive immune parameters but not clinical outcomes in COVID-19 disease.
Karim F, Gazy I, Cele S, Zungu Y, Krause R, Bernstein M, Ganga Y, Rodel H, Mthabela N, Mazibuko M, Khan K, Muema D, Ramjit D, Lustig G, Ndung’u T, Hanekom W, Gosnell BI, COMMIT-KZN Team, Wong E, de Oliveira T, Moosa MYS, Leslie A, Kløverpris H, Sigal A, medRxiv (2020), doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.11.23.20236828:.
High Resolution analysis of Transmission Dynamics of Sars-Cov-2 in Two Major Hospital Outbreaks in South Africa Leveraging Intrahost Diversity.
San EJ, Ngcapu S, Kanzi A, Tegally H, Fonseca V, Giandhari J, Wilkinson E, Chimukangara B, Pillay S, Singh L, Fish M, Gazy I, Khanyile KS, Lessells R, de Oliveira T, medRxiv (2020), https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.11.15.20231993:.
Cost-effectiveness of public health strategies for COVID-19 epidemic control in South Africa: a microsimulation modelling study.
Reddy KP, Shebl FM, Foote JHA, Harling G, Scott JA, Panella C, Fitzmaurice KP, Flanagan C, Hyle EP, Neilan AM, Mohareb AM, Bekker L-G, Lessells R, Ciaranello AL, Wood R, Losina E, Freedberg KA, Kazemian P, Siedner MJ , Lancet Global Health (2020), https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(20)30452-6:.
Major new lineages of SARS-CoV-2 emerge and spread in South Africa during lockdown.
Tegally H, Wilkinson E, Lessells R, Giandhari J, Pillay S, Msomi N, Mlisana K, Bhiman J, Allam M, Ismail A, Engelbrecht S, Van Zyl G, Preiser W, Williamson C, Pettruccione F, Sigal A, Gazy I, Hardie D, Hsiao M, Martin D, York D, Goedhals D, San EJ, Giovanetti M, Lourenco J, Alcantara LCJ, de Oliveira T, medRxiv (2020), https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.28.20221143:.
Portable sequencing in the field and the classroom: a retrospective examination of the circulation of DENV1 and DENV2 in Brazil.
Adelino TER, Giovanetti M, Fonseca V, Xavier J, Salgado A, Nascimento V, Demarchi LH, Oliveira M, Silva V, Mello A, Muricy G, Santos R, Oliveira E, Junior JAC, Iani F, de Filippis AMB, Abreu AL, de Jesus R, Albuquerque CF, Rico J, Said R, Silva J, Moura N, Leite P, Vinhal L, Kashima S, Martinez AA, Khouri F, Vazquez C, Cunha R, Araujo E, Tosta S, Fabri A, Chalhoub F, Lemos P, de Bruycker-Nogueira F, Lichs G, Zardin M, Cardozo F, Goncalves C, Fernandez Z, Slavov S, Pereira LA, Mendonca AF, Pereira F, Magalhaes J, de Castro A, Lima M, Nogueira R, Goes A, Azevedo V, Ramalho D, Oliveira W, Medeiros A, Pimentel V, Latin American Genomic Surveillance Arboviral Network, Holmes EC, de Oliveira T, Lourenco J, Alcantara LCJ, medRxiv (2020), https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.09.01.20183301:.
KRISP VIDEOS
How a team of scientists worked tirelessly to help the COVID-19 response in Africa
By: Pillay S, Giandhari J, Tegally H, Wilkinson E, Chimukangara B, Lessells R, Mattison S, Moosa Y, Gazy I, Fish M, Singh L, Khanyile KS, Fonseca V, Giovanetti M, Alcantara LCJ, de Oliveira T
KRISP BLOGS
KRISP BIOINFORMATICS TOOLS
Genome Detective Coronavirus Typing Tool
Genome Detective Coronavirus Typing Tool for rapid identification and characterization of novel coronavirus genomes
Genome Detective Dengue Virus Typing Tool
This is a beta version of our Dengue Virus Typing tool. For the mean time, this tool should be used for evaluation only. Please send feedback to Tulio de Oliveira.
Genome Detective Zika Typing Tool
This is the first version of the Zika typing tool, which uses phylogenetic analysis to identify the species and genotype of the virus.
Genome Detective Chikungunya Typing Tool
This is the first version of the Chikungunya typing tool, which uses phylogenetic analysis to identify the species and genotype of the virus.
Genome Detective Yellow Fever Virus Typing Tool
This is the first version of the Yellow Fever typing tool, which uses phylogenetic analysis to identify the species and genotype of the virus.
This is the first version of our Arbovirus typing tool for Chikungunya, Dengue, Yellow Fever and Zika
REGA HIV Subtyping Tool V3 - Belgium Mirror
Phylogenetic tool to identify the HIV-1 subtypes and recombinants. Query sequences are analysed for recombination using bootscanning methods. The version 3 contains new CRFs (CRF01_AE to CRF47_BF).
MORE TOOLS
KRISP has been created by the coordinated effort of the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) and the South African Medical Research Countil (SAMRC).
Location: K-RITH Tower Building
Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, UKZN
719 Umbilo Road, Durban, South Africa.
Director: Prof. Tulio de Oliveira