COVID-19 rise in Bangladesh correlates with increasing detection of B.1.351 variant
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Senjuti Saha, Arif M Tanmoy, Yogesh Hooda, Afroza Akter Tanni, Sharmistha Goswami, Syed Muktadir Al Sium, Mohammad Saiful Islam Sajib, Roly Malaker, Shuborno Islam, Hafizur Rahman, Ataul Mustufa Anik, Nikkon Sarker, Mohammad Shahidul Islam, Kinkar Ghosh, Probir Kumar Sarkar, Mohammed Rizwanul Ahsan Bipul, Syed Shafi Ahmed, Mohammod Shahidullah, Samir K Saha
Epidemiological, phenotypic and genomic characterisation of certain variants of SARS-CoV-2 have highlighted the changing transmissibility, infectivity and antigenic escape capability of this virus. Of considerable interest are the B.1.1.7 variant (20I/501Y.V1) and B.1.351 variant (20H/501Y.V2) that have now been reported from multiple countries around the world. B.1.1.7 was first detected in September 2020 in the UK through genomic surveillance, and it contains a mutation (N501Y) in the receptor-binding domain of the spike protein that ha