"The COVID-19 pandemic in BRICS: Milestones, interventions, and molecular epidemiology"

PLOS Glob Public Health. 2024 Dec 20;4(12):e0003023. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0003023. eCollection 2024.

Abstract

Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) are a group of developing countries with shared economic, healthcare, and scientific interests. These countries navigate multiple syndemics, and the COVID-19 pandemic placed severe strain on already burdened BRICS' healthcare systems, hampering effective pandemic interventions. Genomic surveillance and molecular epidemiology remain indispensable tools for facilitating informed pandemic intervention. To evaluate the combined manner in which the pandemic unfolded in BRICS countries, we reviewed the BRICS pandemic epidemiological and genomic milestones, which included the first reported cases and deaths, and pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions implemented in these countries. To assess the development of genomic surveillance capacity and efficiency over the pandemic, we analyzed the turnaround time from sample collection to data availability and the technologies used for genomic analysis. This data provided information on the laboratory capacities that enable the detection of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants and highlight their potential for monitoring other pathogens in ongoing public health efforts. Our analyses indicated that BRICS suffered >105.6M COVID-19 infections, resulting in >1.7M deaths. BRICS countries detected intricate genetic combinations of SARS-CoV-2 variants that fueled country-specific pandemic waves. BRICS' genomic surveillance programs enabled the identification and characterization of the majority of globally circulating Variants of Concern (VOCs) and their descending lineages. Pandemic intervention strategies first implemented by BRICS countries included non-pharmaceutical interventions during the onset of the pandemic, such as nationwide lockdowns, quarantine procedures, the establishment of fever clinics, and mask mandates- which were emulated internationally. Vaccination rollout strategies complemented this, some representing the first of their kind. Improvements in BRICS sequencing and data generation turnaround time facilitated quicker detection of circulating and emerging variants, supported by investments in sequencing and bioinformatic infrastructure. Intra-BRICS cooperation contributed to the ongoing intervention in COVID-19 and other pandemics, enhancing collective capabilities in addressing these health challenges. The data generated continues to inform BRICS-centric pandemic intervention strategies and influences global health matters. The increased laboratory and bioinformatic capacity post-COVID-19 will support the detection of emerging pathogens.

Grants and funding

Work conducted at KRISP and CERI is supported in part by grants from the NGS-BRICS, the South African Department of Science and Innovation (SA DSI), and the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) under the BRICS JAF #2020/049, the World Health Organisation, the Abbott Pandemic Defense Coalition (APDC), the National Institute of Health USA (U01 AI151698) for the United World Antivirus Research Network (UWARN) and the INFORM Africa project through IHVN (U54 TW012041), the Rockefeller Foundation (Grant # 2021 HTH 017 and 2020 HTH 062), and H3BioNet Africa (Grant # 2020 HTH 062). These were awarded to TdO for the two institutions, Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation, Stellenbosch University and KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform, University of KwaZulu-Natal. Work conducted in India is supported by funding from the NGS-BRICS grant and the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India. This funding was received by National Institute of Biomedical Genomics, West Bengal, India and Indian Institute of Science, Karnataka, India Author ATRV received the following funding: NGS-BRICS Brazil CNPq grant 440931/2020-7; Coalizão grant CNPq 404136/2020-6; Genomic surveillance network CORONA-ÔMICA RJ FAPERJ (E- 26/210.179/2020 and E-26/211.107/202), Rede Corona-ômica BR MCTI/FINEP affiliated to RedeVírus/MCTI (FINEP 01.20.0029.000462/20, CNPq 404096/2020-4) and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brazil (Capes) - Finance Code 001. Work conducted in Russia was supported by the RFBR grant 20-54-80014 and received by authors GAB and EN. This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 82161148009) and the Capital Health Development and Research Special Programme (Grant No. 2021-1G-3012). This funding was received by ML and WM.