Retrospective screening of routine respiratory samples revealed undetected community transmission and missed intervention opportunities for SARS-CoV-2 in the United Kingdom

Chappell, Joseph G., Tsoleridis, Theocharis, Clark, Gemma, Berry, Louise, Holmes, Nadine, Moore, Christopher, Carlile, Matthew, Sang, Fei, Debebe, Bisrat J., Wright, Victoria, Irving, William L., Thomson, Brian J., Boswell, Timothy C. J., Willingham, Iona, Joseph, Amelia, Smith, Wendy, Khakh, Manjinder, Fleming, Vicki M., Lister, Michelle M., Howson-Wells, Hannah C., Holmes, Edward C., Loose, Matthew W., Ball, Jonathan K., McClure, C. Patrick, The COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) Consortium, , Bashton, Matthew, Smith, Darren, Nelson, Andrew, Young, Greg and McCann, Clare (2021) Retrospective screening of routine respiratory samples revealed undetected community transmission and missed intervention opportunities for SARS-CoV-2 in the United Kingdom. Journal of General Virology, 102 (6). 001595. ISSN 0022-1317

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Abstract

In the early phases of the SARS coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, testing focused on individuals fitting a strict case definition involving a limited set of symptoms together with an identified epidemiological risk, such as contact with an infected individual or travel to a high-risk area. To assess whether this impaired our ability to detect and control early introductions of the virus into the UK, we PCR-tested archival specimens collected on admission to a large UK teaching hospital who retrospectively were identified as having a clinical presentation compatible with COVID-19. In addition, we screened available archival specimens submitted for respiratory virus diagnosis, and dating back to early January 2020, for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Our data provides evidence for widespread community circulation of SARS-CoV-2 in early February 2020 and into March that was undetected at the time due to restrictive case definitions informing testing policy. Genome sequence data showed that many of these early cases were infected with a distinct lineage of the virus. Sequences obtained from the first officially recorded case in Nottinghamshire - a traveller returning from Daegu, South Korea – also clustered with these early UK sequences suggesting acquisition of the virus occurred in the UK and not Daegu. Analysis of a larger sample of sequences obtained in the Nottinghamshire area revealed multiple viral introductions, mainly in late February and through March. These data highlight the importance of timely and extensive community testing to prevent future widespread transmission of the virus.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Matthew Bashton, Darren L. Smith, Gregory R. Young, Clare McCann and Andrew Nelson are member of the COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) Consortium. Funding information: This work was supported by grants from the Medical Research Council UK (MR/R010307/1 and MR/S009434/1), which are both part of the EDCTP2 programme supported by the European Union, The University of Nottingham Campaign and Alumni Relations Office research donations award and the EU H2020 programme (Project 727393 – PaleBlu). Whole genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 was funded by COG-UK; COG-UK is supported by funding from the Medical Research Council (MRC) part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) and Genome Research Limited, operating as the Wellcome Sanger Institute.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Community Transmission, COVID-19, Molecular Epidemiology, Pooled Screening, SARS-CoV-2 and Whole-Genome Sequencing
Subjects:	B100 Anatomy, Physiology and Pathology C500 Microbiology C700 Molecular Biology, Biophysics and Biochemistry
Department:	Faculties > Health and Life Sciences > Applied Sciences
Depositing User:	Elena Carlaw
Date Deposited:	08 Sep 2021 10:22
Last Modified:	08 Sep 2021 10:22
URI:	http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/47101

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