Detection, viral load and phylogenetic analysis of SARS-CoV-2 in samples of volunteers from the vaccine ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 clinical trial

• Grant number: 20/11719-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: January 01, 2021
• End date: April 30, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology
• Principal Investigator: Nancy Cristina Junqueira Bellei
• Grantee: Gabriela Rodrigues Barbosa
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In 2019, a new Coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, was recognized as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory syndrome, COVID-19, causing millions of deaths worldwide, thus reaching pandemic status. Given this scenario, several vaccines are being developed, with emphasis on the vaccine ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AZD1222), developed by the Oxford Jenner Institute, in the University of Oxford, United Kingdom, the first one to start phase III clinical trials which started in Brazil, in June this year. In this study, voluntary participants are randomly divided into two groups. One group receives the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine and another group (control) receives the vaccine for Meningitis. During the period of one year, vaccinated participants who present symptoms will be invited to collect nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs in order to detect SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR in real time. The samples will also be tested for other respiratory viruses including Influenza A and B, Respiratory Syncytial Virus, Rhinovirus and Adenovirus for differential diagnosis, contributing to epidemiological surveillance data, as well as observation of possible cases of co-infection. Positive samples will also be subjected to New Generation Sequencing (NGS), allowing the investigation of evolution events, mutation analysis, possible events that favor gain-of-function and trace the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 variants in the immunized population. From the molecular results and data obtained from the patients, statistical analysis will be performed by the Two-way ANOVA test using Graphpad Prism version 8.0, considering statistically different a p value <0.05. (AU)

Scientific publications

(4)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

BARBOSA, GABRIELA RODRIGUES; LEAO MOREIRA, LUIZ VINICIUS; OLIVEIRA JUSTO, ALBERTO FERNANDO; PEROSA, ANA HELENA; DE SOUZA LUNA, LUCIANO KLEBER; CUNHA CHAVES, ANA PAULA; BUENO, MARIANA SARDINHA; CONTE, DANIELLE DIAS; ALMEIDA CARVALHO, JOSEANE MAYARA; PRATES, JANESLY; et al. Rapid spread and high impact of the variant of concern P.1 in the largest city of Brazil. Journal of Infection, v. 83, n. 1, p. 132-134, JUL 2021. (20/11719-0)

ALBERTO FERNANDO OLIVEIRA JUSTO; MARIANA SARDINHA BUENO; GABRIELA RODRIGUES BARBOSA; ANA HELENA PEROSA; JOSEANE MA CARVALHO; NANCY BELLEI. Comparison of viral load between saliva and nasopharyngeal swabs for SARS-CoV2: the role of days of symptoms onset on diagnosis. Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, v. 116, 2021-04-16. (20/11719-0)

BARBOSA, GABRIELA; CHAVES, ANA P. C.; DE SOUZA LUNA, LUCIANO; BELLEI, NANCY. SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infection and viral load among healthcare workers after COVID-19 vaccines. Journal of Medical Virology, v. 94, n. 6, p. 2-pg., 2022-02-08. (20/11719-0)

BARBOSA, GABRIELA; PEROSA, ANA HELENA; BELLEI, NANCY. Atypical interseasonal respiratory syncytial virus infection in hospitalized children up to 12 years old. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, v. 17, n. 8, p. 2-pg., 2023-08-01. (20/11719-0)