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Gene & Protein in Disease SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variants in Iraq

A

B C

Figure 3. (A) Percentage of the different SARS-CoV-2 Omicron lineages circulating in Iraq during the span of this study. (B and C) Daily morbidity and
mortality cases in Iraq, respectively. The graphs in (B) and (C) were obtained from the Worldometers website (https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
[24]
country/iraq/; Data accessed on May 31, 2023) .
the heptad repeat (HR)-1 domain of the S2 subunit of the S The result of this study has shown that BA.1.1 (52%),
protein, namely, Q954H (73%), N969K (73%), and L981F BA.1 (14%), BA.2 (3%), and BA.17.2 (2%) were the most
(66%) (Figure 5). It was also observed that 5 of the 60 site prevalent Omicron variants that circulated in Iraq from
mutations of the S protein had more than one substitution, late 2021 to the end of November 2022. The emergence of
including V213G (Prevalence rate 12%) and V213E = 13%. new highly mutated sub-lineages of BA.1, BA.1.1, and BA.2
Furthermore, there were G399D (Prevalence rate = 15%) raised concerns about the pathogenicity of these variants .
[28]
and G399H=16% (Figure 5). BA.2 variant was first reported on October 22, 2021 , and
[29]
was shown to have a 30% increased transmissibility in
4. Discussion comparison to BA.1 . However, this study showed that
[26]
Similar to other RNA viruses, SARS-CoV-2 has a high BA.2 was less prevalent among Iraqi patients in comparison
mutation rate, which has led to the emergence of different to the BA.1 and BA.1.1 variants (Figure 1). This perhaps
variants of the virus with varying levels of pathogenicity explains the lower COVID-19 mortality and morbidity
and transmissibility [25,26] . The Omicron variant (B.1.1.529), rates recorded in Iraq during the period of this study in
which was first reported in November 2021 in Botswana, comparison to neighboring countries, such as Iran and
[30]
was categorized as a VOC by the World Health Organization Turkey (Figure 3B and C) . Moreover, it has been shown
on November 26, 2021 . that the mortality and morbidity rates during the Omicron
[26]
wave were reduced by 20–80% in comparison with those
4.1. Omicron variants during the Delta wave .
[26]
The genome of the Omicron variant contains a wide range Although BA.1, BA.1.1, and BA.2 have shown to share
of deletions and insertions relative to the first SARS-CoV-2, most of the Omicron mutations, these sub-lineages differ
including 31 – 37 mutations located in the S protein . in some distinctive mutations. For instance, R346K is a
[27]

Volume 2 Issue 3 (2023) 4 https://doi.org/10.36922/gpd.1646