Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness

July 23, 2020

Tracking Changes in SARS-CoV-2 Spike: Evidence That D614G Increases Infectivity of the COVID-19 Virus

Category:

Topic:

  • Korber et al. present evidence that SARS-CoV-2 viruses with the G614 mutation in the Spike protein are more prevalent than the original D614 form identified in the first human cases in Wuhan, China. In a follow-up study of 999 COVID-19 patients at the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, patients infected with G614 shed more viral nucleic acid compared with those with D614 (p=0.037), and G614-viruses show significantly higher infectious titers in vitro than their D614 counterparts (2.6- to 9.3-fold increase, p<0.0001). 

Korber et al. (August 20, 2020). Tracking Changes in SARS-CoV-2 Spike: Evidence That D614G Increases Infectivity of the COVID-19 Virus. Cell. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2020.06.043