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SARS-CoV-2 Viral Variants—Tackling a Moving Target

Educational Objective
To identify the key insights or developments described in this article
1 Credit CME

In this issue of JAMA, Zhang and colleagues1 report the emergence of a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variant in Southern California that accounted for 44% (37 of 85) of samples collected and studied in January 2021. The terminology of viral variation can be confusing because the media and even scientific communications often use the terms variant, strain, and lineage interchangeably. The terminology reflects the basic replication biology of RNA viruses that results in the introduction of mutations throughout the viral genome. When specific mutations, or sets of mutations, are selected through numerous rounds of viral replication, a new variant can emerge. If the sequence variation produces a virus with distinctly different phenotypic characteristics, the variant is co-termed a strain. When through genetic sequencing and phylogenetic analysis a new variant is detected as a distinct branch on a phylogenetic tree, a new lineage is born.

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Article Information

Corresponding Author: John R. Mascola, MD, Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 40 Convent Dr, Bethesda, MD 20853 (jmascola@mail.nih.gov).

Published Online: February 11, 2021. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.2088

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Graham reports a patent for design of spike antigens with stabilizing mutations with multiple nonexclusive licenses for use in candidate vaccines. No other disclosures were reported.

References
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AMA CME Accreditation Information

Credit Designation Statement: The American Medical Association designates this Journal-based CME activity activity for a maximum of 1.00  AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to:

  • 1.00 Medical Knowledge MOC points in the American Board of Internal Medicine's (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program;;
  • 1.00 Self-Assessment points in the American Board of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery’s (ABOHNS) Continuing Certification program;
  • 1.00 MOC points in the American Board of Pediatrics’ (ABP) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program;
  • 1.00 Lifelong Learning points in the American Board of Pathology’s (ABPath) Continuing Certification program; and
  • 1.00 credit toward the CME [and Self-Assessment requirements] of the American Board of Surgery’s Continuous Certification program

It is the CME activity provider's responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting MOC credit.

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