A public health perspective of SARS-CoV-2 evolution and surveillance strategies in Germany from 2020 to 2023

2025/11/11 by Djin‐Ye Oh, Martin Hölzer, Daniela Börnigen +26 · 2 voices · 1 citation
Medicine · Mathematics · #SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research #SARS-CoV-2 detection and testing #COVID-19 epidemiological studies

paper · doi:10.1038/s43856-025-01093-1

Abstract

This review summarizes key virological parameters of SARS-CoV-2, the clinical spectrum of COVID-19, antiviral options, resistance, and the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 during the first four years of the pandemic. It draws on evidence that has been continuously updated throughout the pandemic by the interdisciplinary working group 'SARS-CoV-2 Diagnostics and Evolution' at Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Germany's national public health institute. We describe basic SARS-CoV-2 characteristics and highlight notable virus variants from 2020 to mid-2023. During this period, the nationwide collection of SARS-CoV-2 genomes provided a substantial resource for monitoring viral lineage frequencies and mutations. We summarize this dataset to underscore the importance of virological surveillance in the context of public health and pandemic preparedness.

Citations

• SARS-CoV-2 is associated with changes in brain structure in UK Biobank
• Tissue distribution of ACE2 protein, the functional receptor for SARS coronavirus. A first step in understanding SARS pathogenesis

Cited by

• Determinants of success and failure of antibody-based strategies against respiratory viruses: insights from RSV and SARS-CoV-2. [europepmc]

Discussions

• 🦠 Wie hat sich #SARS-CoV-2 in 🇩🇪 von 2020-2023 entwickelt? In einem großen Review von RKI-Forschenden werden virologische Grundlagen, Variantenentwicklung, klinische Aspekte und die Rolle der Geno [bsky, 25 points, 1 comments]
• New review highlights #SARS-CoV-2 evolution and longstanding #GenomicSurveillance in Germany, emphasising the need for adaptive #PublicHealth strategies for pandemic preparedness. 📄 https://doi.org/1 [bsky, 6 points, 0 comments]

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