2/7 B.1.617 first reported in India comes in 4 different flavors primarily defined by their spike gene mutations. While the CDC currently recognizes all 4 as VOIs, the B.1.617.2 lineage that we detected importantly does not have the E484Q mutation.
3/7 The B.1.617.2 case was not associated with travel, suggesting that there is some level of local transmission. Though the presence of other highly transmissible variants in CT - like B.1.1.7 - may limit its ability to become established.
5/7 We are starting to see similar trends of P.1 π in *Connecticut*, and it's now up to about ~6% of the sequenced cases.
From our very preliminary data, P.1 doesn't seem to be driving a large proportion of vaccine breakthrough cases, but its obviously something to watch.
6/7 Will end with some π news - both B.1.1.7 and non-B.1.1.7 cases continue to drop to the lowest point in 2021 π₯³ππ
Continued vaccinations π will ensure that this π trend continues.
7/7 This week I'd like to highlight the work of @jessroth95 - our awesome statistician and spatial modeler. She is leading our analysis of variant introductions using travel data and helps with just about every project. Oh, and she also does all of our GISAID submissions π»
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2/8 Last week we saw a dip in the probably B.1.1.7 cases determined by TaqPath SGTF results. I showed how the sequencing tracked with the SGTF data, and that the dip was probably a blip...
3/8 That "blip" was confirmed: B.1.1.7 π this week in both the sequencing and TaqPath SGTF data (shown π). While we expect B.1.1.7 to continue this trend until it dominates (like in the UK), the good news is that we are seeing a reduction in both B.1.1.7 and non-B.1.1.7 cases.
2/9 While we continue to see the rapid decline of non-VOCs/VOIs, the competition between B.1.1.7 & B.1.526 is quite interesting, and could have significant public health importance. Currently B.1.1.7 is "winning", though things could rapidly change as more people get vaccinated.
3/9 For the first time we saw B.1.1.7 π from TaqPath data, which could mean that it is slowing down (it has to at some point). Below I also plotted the B.1.1.7 frequency estimates from our sequencing data, which has tracked with TaqPath and importantly still shows B.1.1.7 π
3/6 We predicted that B.1.1.7 would become dominant in CT in our recent paper led by @tdalpert, @AndersonBrito_, & co. However, we thought that this would have happened earlier in March. The slowdown of B.1.1.7 was likely due to the rapid rise of B.1.526.
2/8 We didn't see an increase in the % of B.1.1.7 from the sequencing data last week, and the TaqPAth SGTF data also suggests that the expansion of B.1.1.7 *might* be slowing down in CT.
While this is good news, I think that it points to something else...
3/8 That something else is B.1.526.
It made up 32% of the sequenced cases analyzed this week, a 9% increase from the week before.
Its proportion is higher in Fairfield county, which is close to NY - where B.1.526 is currently dominating.
2/5 TaqPath SGTF data from YNHH (mostly New Haven County) and JAX (New Haven, Hartford, and some other counties) shows that the frequency of B.1.1.7 keeps π. Thankfully, the B.1.1.7 cases and total cases are still way down. Lets work to keep it that way.
3/5 We detected a B.1.1.7 sequence with the E484K mutation from a sample collected from New Haven County (CT). The genome is very closely related to others sequenced in CT so its likely acquired this mutation independently. This is potentially concerning for vaccines.
2/3 TaqPath SGTF data from YNHH (mostly New Haven County) and JAX (New Haven, Hartford, and some other counties) shows that probable B.1.1.7 cases keep π as non-B.1.1.7 cases slowly π.
B.1.1.7 is now ~35% of the total cases (~40% from YNHH and ~26% from JAX).
3/3 (YNHH TaqPath data only)
Our earlier projections of B.1.1.7 frequency growth are still pretty close. We expect the YNHH B.1.1.7 numbers to cross 50% this week, and the combined (YNHH and JAX) to cross 50% next week.