Genomic analysis reveals a rapid spread and predominance of lambda (C.37) SARS‐COV‐2 lineage in Peru despite circulation of variants of concern
Carlos Padilla, Víctor Jimenez‐Vasquez, Verónica Hurtado, Orson Mestanza, Iris S. Molina, Luis Barcena, Sandra Morales Ruiz, Steve Acedo, Wendy Lizarraga, Henri Bailón, Omar Cáceres, Marco Galarza, Nancy Rojas, Natalia Vargas‐Herrera, Priscila Lope‐Pari, Joseph Huayra, Lely Solari
Abstract
The pandemic generated by SARS-Cov-2 has caused a large number of cases and deaths in the world, but South America has been one of the continents that were most hard hit. The appearance of new variants causes concern because of the possibility that they may evade the protection generated by vaccination campaigns, their greater capacity to be transmitted, or their higher virulence. We analyzed the circulating variants in Peru after improving our Genomic Surveillance program. The results indicate a steep increase of the lambda lineage (C.37) until becoming predominant between January and April 2021, despite the cocirculation of other variants of concern or interest. Lambda lineage deserves close monitoring and could probably become a variant of concern in the near future.