A mutation in the Gamma variant (P1) of coronavirus is linked to increased mortality, a Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and MIT researchers said on Wednesday. The mutation also carries greater transmissibility, higher infection rates, and increased pathogenicity, showed the study detailed in the journal Genetic Epidemiology.
The findings were based on genome-wide association studies (GWAS) methodology, which analyzed whole-genome sequencing data of SARS-CoV-2 mutations and COVID-19 mortality data. In September 2020, the team looked for links between each mutation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus’s single-stranded RNA and mortality in 7,548 COVID-19 patients in Brazil.