At the moment, the VGARus database (the Russian database of coronavirus genomes) contains almost 90 thousand records, a third of them appeared in 2022. This was reported in Rospotrebnadzor.

Specialists are especially attentive to the different lines of the "omicron", for which the employees of the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor have developed a new technique. Of particular concern is the “omicron” of the BA.2 line, which is also called the “invisible”.

“It lacks a genetic deletion of two amino acids in the spike protein, a part of the virus that helps the virus to penetrate into human cells,” explained Kamil Khafizov, head of the scientific group for developing new diagnostic methods based on sequencing technologies at the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor. - Actually, this mutation was used by many foreign PCR tests in order to detect the Omicron strain, distinguishing it from the Delta. And then it turned out that, as it were, “omicron”, but there is no deletion, and therefore the tests missed.

According to Khafizov, sequencing of the virus genome is guaranteed to detect all changes in the nucleotide sequence of the pathogen, and in this case, errors are practically excluded.

In June 2021, by order of the Russian government, the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology developed and launched the VGARus (Virus Genome Aggregator of Russia) platform. The VGARus database contains information about the nucleotide sequences of SARS-CoV-2 variants and their mutations common in certain regions of the Russian Federation, and can be used to store, organize and select data to detect mutations and identify virus strains. This platform, if necessary, can be used as a base for monitoring other infections.

bbabo.Net