Publications
Correlation of severity & clinical outcomes of COVID-19 with virus variants: A prospective, multicentre hospital network study
Wadhwa K, Malik S, Balaji S, Thiruvengadam R, Bashyam MD, Bhattacharya PK, Behera B, Bhardwaj P, Biswas NK, Das A, Dey A, Dhotre D, Dias M, Dubey P, Dutta S, Gadepalli R, Gosain M, Goud KI, Gupta NK, Gupta N, Jana P, Jena D, John E, Karunanidhi A, Khan SMS, Khattar S, Paul APK, Kumar S, Maitra A, Modi N, Moorthy M, Nagaraj S, Palakodeti D, Pandey AK, Pandey A, Raghav SK, Ramasubban S, Raghavan S, Harikrishnan S, Krishnamoorthy S, Selvamurugan S, Sardana R, Shouche Y, Singh A, Singh AK, Ramasubramaniyan V, Yadav M, Zahoor D, Narreddy S, Bhatnagar S, Wadhwa N, Das B, Garg PK. Background objectives: The clinical course of COVID-19 and its prognosis are influenced by both viral and host factors. The objectives of this study were to develop a nationwide platform to investigate the molecular epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 (Severe acute respiratory syndrome Corona virus 2) and correlate the severity and clinical outcomes of COVID-19 with virus variants.
Methods: A nationwide, longitudinal, prospective cohort study was conducted from September 2021 to December 2022 at 14 hospitals across the country that were linked to a viral sequencing laboratory under the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium. All participants (18 yr and above) who attended the hospital with a suspicion of SARS-CoV-2 infection and tested positive by the reverse transcription-PCR method were included. The participant population consisted of both hospitalized as well as outpatients. Their clinical course and outcomes were studied prospectively. Nasopharyngeal samples collected were subjected to whole genome sequencing to detect SARS-CoV-2 variants.
