The evaluation of potential global impact of the N501Y mutation in SARS‐COV‐2 positive patients

• Published in: Journal of medical virology Vol. 94; no. 3; pp. 1009 - 1019
• Main Authors: Komurcu, Selen Zeliha Mart, Artik, Yakup, Cesur, Nevra Pelin, Tanriverdi, Arzu, Erdogan, Derya Cakir, Celik, Sule, Gulec, Elif Yilmaz
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.03.2022; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Child; Child, Preschool; coronavirus; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 Nucleic Acid Testing; Evaluation; Female; Fluorescein; Humans; Infant; Male; Middle Aged; Mutation; Mutation rates; N501Y mutation; Pandemics; Polymerase chain reaction; polymerase chain reaction (PCR); Public health; Quantitation; Retrospective Studies; Reverse transcription; reverse transcription PCR (RT‐PCR); SARS-CoV-2 - genetics; SARS‐CoV‐2; Severe acute respiratory syndrome; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Viral diseases; Virology; Viruses; Young Adult; coronavirus; SARS-CoV-2; reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR); polymerase chain reaction (PCR); N501Y mutation
• DOI: 10.1002/jmv.27413
• ISSN: 0146-6615; 1096-9071

Rapid and reliable detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 mutations are significant to control the contagion and spread rate of the virus. We aimed to evaluate the N501Y mutation rate in randomly chosen positive patients with the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The evaluation and analysis of the data with a retrospective approach in cases with mutations, in terms of public health, will contribute to the literature on the global pandemic that affects our society. Public health authorities will take the necessary precautions and evaluate the current situation. The N501Y mutation was detected in patients with positive Covid‐19 PCR test results. The positive samples were examined based on the 6‐carboxy‐fluorescein (FAM) channel in reverse transcription PCR (RT‐PCR) quantitation cycle (Cq) values as low Cq (<25), medium Cq (25–32), and high Cq (32–38) groups. In the study, 2757 (19.7%) of 13 972 cases were detected as mutation suspects and 159 (5.8%) of them were found to have mutations. The ages of the cases with mutations ranged from 1 to 88 years (mean age of 40.99 ± 17.55). 49.7% (n = 79) of the cases with mutations were male, and 50.3% (n = 80) were female. When the RT‐PCR‐Cq results were examined, it was seen that it varied between 11.3 and 35.03, with an average of 20.75 ± 3.32.