Fast Five Quiz: COVID-19 Variants

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has categorized SARS-CoV-2 variants into three classes: variant of interest, variant of concern, and variant under monitoring. The four classes according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are variant being monitored, variant of interest, variant of concern, and variant of high consequence. Variants with precise markers that are associated with variations in receptor binding, decreased antibody neutralization developed against previous infection or vaccination, diminished efficacy of treatments, potential diagnostic impact, or a projected increase in transmissibility of disease severity are classified as variants of interest.

Presently, no COVID-19 variant has been classified as a variant of high consequence, according to the US CDC, which encompasses variants that are associated with significantly decreased efficacy of preventive and medical measures.

Variants that have been associated with high disease transmissibility; more disease severity, including hospitalizations and deaths; a significant decrease in antibody neutralization; diminished treatment efficacy; and diagnostic detection failure are considered variants of concern. The Delta variant is now considered to be a de-escalated variant.

Learn more about COVID-19 variants.

Any views expressed above are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of WebMD or Medscape.

Cite this: Glenn Wortmann. Fast Five Quiz: COVID-19 Variants - Medscape - Aug 03, 2022.

Commenting is limited to medical professionals. To comment please Log-in.

Comments on Medscape are moderated and should be professional in tone and on topic. You must declare any conflicts of interest related to your comments and responses. Please see our Commenting Guide for further information. We reserve the right to remove posts at our sole discretion.

My Alerts