Dominant strain analysis of Omicron sublineages based on next-generation sequencing in the Honam region of South Korea

This study aimed to identify Omicron sublineages and examine their patterns in the Honam region, the southwestern region of South Korea, using next-generation sequencing (NGS). In 2023, 1725 polymerase chain reaction-positive samples were collected from the Honam region for variant analysis through NGS. Among the 1725 confirmed cases, 1690 were domestic infections, and 35 were imported infections. The study identified two Honam-specific sublineages, BN.1 and HK.3, with a significant difference in variant distribution between domestic and imported infections (P < 0.001). However, no significant differences were observed across the three Honam regions (P = 0.348). The variant prevalence in Honam differed from national and global data reported by the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID). This study emphasizes the value of regional variant analysis using NGS, which aids in infectious disease surveillance and monitoring regional variant distribution.