MORTALITY-ASSOCIATED SARS-COV-2 GENOMIC VARIANTS FROM PATIENTS HOSPITALIZED FOR SEVERE PNEUMONIA IN AGUASCALIENTES, MEXICO FROM 2020 TO 2023

ABSTRACT Background The SARS-CoV-2 virus has caused a global health crisis, resulting in a significant loss of human lives. It is essential to report disease and mutation associations to provide ideas for public health interventions and preventive measures. Methods In this study, to determine the association between genomic variants and the severity of pneumonia caused by SARS-CoV-2, a sequencing analysis of 150 patient samples with confirmed COVID-19 was conducted. These samples were collected between 2021 and 2023 and isolated in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Results The patient cohort had males and females ranging from 0 to 91 years old. Males accounted for 66% of the population analyzed. The Delta variant was the most prevalent lineage associated with deaths in 2021-2022, while the B.1.1.529 lineages emerged in mid-2022. Currently, the XBB lineage is the most commonly identified in Mexico. New mutations L95M and L46M in ORF 8 and ORF 9 were discovered in 30% and 20% of the sequences and are uniquely present in the studied population. These mutations are positively associated with patient death. Conclusions This study provides valuable data to aid in understanding the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 in specific populations and explores the severity of the disease and mutation correlations.