Blomquist, Paula B and Bridgen, Jessica and Bray, Neil and O’Connell, Anne Marie and West, Daniel and Groves, Natalie and Gallagher, Eileen and Utsi, Lara and Jarvis, Christopher I and Hardstaff, Jo L and Byers, Chloe and Metelmann, Soeren and Simons, David and Zaidi, Asad and Twohig, Katherine A and Savagar, Bethan and Løchen, Alessandra and Wrenn, Katie and Saavedra-Campos, María and Abedin, Zahidul and Florence, Isaac and Cleary, Paul and Elson, Richard and Vivancos, Roberto and Lake, Iain R (2022) Enhancing epidemiological surveillance of the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant using spike gene target failure data, England, 15 November to 31 December 2021. Eurosurveillance, 27 (11): 2200143. ISSN 1025-496X
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
When SARS-CoV-2 Omicron emerged in 2021, S gene target failure enabled differentiation between Omicron and the dominant Delta variant. In England, where S gene target surveillance (SGTS) was already established, this led to rapid identification (within ca 3 days of sample collection) of possible Omicron cases, alongside real-time surveillance and modelling of Omicron growth. SGTS was key to public health action (including case identification and incident management), and we share applied insights on how and when to use SGTS.