scholarly journals Insights into the Recent 2019 Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in Light of Past Human Coronavirus Outbreaks

Pathogens ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hossam M. Ashour ◽  
Walid F. Elkhatib ◽  
Md. Masudur Rahman ◽  
Hatem A. Elshabrawy

Coronaviruses (CoVs) are RNA viruses that have become a major public health concern since the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-CoV (SARS-CoV) outbreak in 2002. The continuous evolution of coronaviruses was further highlighted with the emergence of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-CoV (MERS-CoV) outbreak in 2012. Currently, the world is concerned about the 2019 novel CoV (SARS-CoV-2) that was initially identified in the city of Wuhan, China in December 2019. Patients presented with severe viral pneumonia and respiratory illness. The number of cases has been mounting since then. As of late February 2020, tens of thousands of cases and several thousand deaths have been reported in China alone, in addition to thousands of cases in other countries. Although the fatality rate of SARS-CoV-2 is currently lower than SARS-CoV, the virus seems to be highly contagious based on the number of infected cases to date. In this review, we discuss structure, genome organization, entry of CoVs into target cells, and provide insights into past and present outbreaks. The future of human CoV outbreaks will not only depend on how the viruses will evolve, but will also depend on how we develop efficient prevention and treatment strategies to deal with this continuous threat.

Author(s):  
Dheemant M. ◽  
Sushmitha E. S. ◽  
Madhan Jeyaraman ◽  
Ajay S. S. ◽  
Rashmi Jain

<p class="abstract">Coronaviruses are RNA viruses that have become a major public health concern since the severe acute respiratory syndrome CoV (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak in 2002. The continuous evolution of coronaviruses was further highlighted with the emergence of the middle east respiratory syndrome CoV (MERS-CoV) outbreak in 2012. The spike glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 plays a pivotal role in the entry of virus into the cell and it further interacts with ACE-II receptors which are widely distributed on the human cell surface especially on alveolar type II cells (AT-2) and endothelium. Currently, the world is concerned about the 2019 novel CoV (SARS-CoV-2) that was initially identified in the city of Wuhan, China in December 2019. Patients presented with severe viral pneumonia and respiratory illness. Despite the virus not being dermatotropic, several skin conditions have emerged mainly as a result of prolonged contact with personal protective equipment and excessive personal hygiene. In this review, we discuss structure, genome organisation, entry of CoVs into target cells, probable cutaneous manifestation that dermatologists may be aware of skin complications and the preventive measures, outcome of the disease and the management.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maimoona Nadri ◽  
Ujala Zubair

In 2019, the world experienced a global public health concern when the novel coronavirus originated from China and affected around fifty-seven thousand people around the world by March 2020. The quick rise in the number of cases and the death toll overwhelmed the scientific and medical community. While all the focus was driven towards finding the epidemiology, the treatment and the management, the mental health aspect of the quarantine was being overlooked. The purpose of this review is to create awareness about the long-term consequences of quarantine, with the focus on the elderly community in Pakistan. 


Author(s):  
Jeff Clyde G Corpuz

Abstract Suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide. Even before the emergence of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV2 COVID-19 pandemic, suicide continued to be a major public health concern. Globally, someone dies by suicide every 40 s, and for each death, there are 20 more persons attempting suicide. A recently published article rightly stated the need for a ‘population-based approach’ to suicide prevention to mitigate suicide attempts. This paper further adds that there must be a stronger multi-agency or multi-sectoral approach to suicide prevention, intervention and postvention. This paper concludes with few suggestions on how to address the COVID-19-related suicide cases as the world continues to fight against the double pandemic.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Gaye ◽  
Tolla Ndiaye ◽  
Mouhamad Sy ◽  
Awa B. Deme ◽  
Alphonse B. Thiaw ◽  
...  

AbstractDengue virus is a major and rapidly growing public health concern in tropic and subtropic regions across the globe. In late 2018, Senegal experienced its largest dengue virus outbreak to date, covering several regions. However, little is known about the genetic diversity of dengue virus (DENV) in Senegal. Here we report complete viral genomes from 17 previously undetected DENV cases from the city of Thiès. In total we identified 19 cases of DENV in a cohort of 198 individuals with fever collected in October and November 2018. We detected 3 co-circulating serotypes; DENV 3 was the most frequent accounting for 11/17 sequences (65%), 4 (23%) were DENV2 and 2 (12%) were DENV1. Sequences were most similar to recent sequences from West Africa, suggesting ongoing local circulation of viral populations; however, detailed inference is limited by the scarcity of available genomic data. We did not find clear associations with reported clinical signs or symptoms, highlighting the importance of testing for diagnosing febrile diseases. Overall, these findings expand the known range of DENV in Senegal, and underscore the need for better genomic characterization of DENV in West Africa.


Author(s):  
Yogesh Chand Yadav ◽  
Ramakant Yadav ◽  
Sushant Kumar

The SARS-CoV-2 virus was first detected in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and was known to produce acute severe respiratory illness in humans which rapidly spread almost throughout the world within a few months. This human coronavirus has seven strains and they commonly produce illness in the nervous system, respiratory system and hepato- intestinal systems. This present review is an attempt to illustrate recent reports pertaining to the management of SARS-CoV-2. Further, it also highlights the diagnosis and clinical management of COVID-19. Various search engines like Scopus, Pubmed and WHO databases were accessed and literature on current advances about COVID-19 including structural features, replication, possible pathogenic, symptoms, diagnosis, prognosis, methods of prevention and possible therapeutic agents used for treatment of patients was reviewed. Current studies indicate that COVID-19 is very infectious with droplet transmission potential. The key modalities to prevent the infection is by keeping social distancing, respiratory/hand hygiene, detection of infection and subsequent quarantine of the infected persons. Presently, either no vaccine for prevention or specific treatments available, however, COVID-19 patients may be managed by using some repositioned drugs and symptomatic treatment.


Author(s):  
Sholly. CK

Novel corona virus (COVID-19) is an infectious condition, which can be spread directly or indirectly from one person to another and causes respiratory illnesses, range from common cold to acute respiratory syndrome. The first cases of this virus were found in Wuhan, China. According to the World Health Organization, COVID-19 is serious health concern and has higher risk for severe illness and spreading rapidly all over the world.This novel coronavirus was named Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) by WHO in February 2020. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the coronavirus disease 2019 a pandemic, in the year2020 March. A global coordinated effort is needed to stop the further spread of the virus. Among all cases about 92% of the confirmed cases were recorded from China. Initial reports suggest that death rate ranges from 1% to 2% which varies in the study and country. The most of the death have occurred in patients over 50 years of age followed by young children. For the confirmed cases which included both laboratory and clinically diagnosed till now there is no specific antiviral treatment recommended but there is vaccine currently available. Once the virus develops in people, corona viruses can be spread from person to person through respiratory droplets. The viral material hangs out in these droplets and can be breathed into the respiratory tract, where the virus can then lead to an infection. Repercussions of Covid -19 on individuals, families and on front line warriors are countless1.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meenakshi Bansal ◽  
Charu Upadhyay ◽  
Poonam Singh ◽  
Sumit Kumar ◽  
Brijesh Rathi

Malaria remains as one of the most life-threatening diseases and thus major public health concern all around the world. The disease becomes devastating if not treated with proper medication on...


Cancers ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 2041 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise A. Jackett ◽  
Richard A. Scolyer

Melanoma is a major public health concern that is responsible for significant morbidity and mortality, particularly in countries such as New Zealand and Australia where it is the commonest cause of cancer death in young adults. Until recently, there were no effective drug therapies for patients with advanced melanoma however significant advances in our understanding of the biological and molecular basis of melanoma in recent decades have led to the development of revolutionary treatments, including targeted molecular therapy and immunotherapy. This review summarizes our current understanding of the key events in the pathway of melanomagenesis and discusses the role of genomic analysis as a potential tool for improved diagnostic evaluation, prognostication and treatment strategies. Ultimately, it is hoped that a continued deeper understanding of the mechanisms of melanomagenesis will lead to the development of even more effective treatments that continue to provide better outcomes for patients with melanoma.


Author(s):  
Hossein Hozhabri ◽  
Francesca Piceci Sparascio ◽  
Hamidreza Sohrabi ◽  
Leila Mousavifar ◽  
René Roy ◽  
...  

Over the past two decades, there have been two major outbreaks where the crossover of animal Betacoronaviruses to humans has resulted in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). In December 2019, a global public health concern started with the emergence of a new strain of coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2 or 2019 novel coronavirus, 2019-nCoV) which has rapidly spread all over the world from its origin in Wuhan, China. SARS-CoV-2 belongs to the Betacoronavirus genus, which includes human SARS-CoV, MERS and two other human coronaviruses (HCoVs), HCoV-OC43 and HCoV-HKU1. The fatality rate of SARS-CoV-2 is lower than the two previous coronavirus epidemics, but it is faster spreading and the large number of infected people with severe viral pneumonia and respiratory illness, showed SARS-CoV-2 to be highly contagious. Based on the current published evidence, herein we summarize the origin, genetics, epidemiology, clinical manifestations, preventions, diagnosis and up to date treatments of SARS-CoV-2 infections in comparison with those caused by SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. Moreover, the possible impact of weather conditions on the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is also discussed. Therefore, the aim of the present review is to reconsider the two previous pandemics and provide a reference for future studies as well as therapeutic approaches.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nurshad Ali ◽  
Farjana Islam

The outbreak of COVID-19 has created a serious public health concern worldwide. Although, most of the regions around the globe have been affected by COVID-19 infections; some regions are more badly affected in terms of infections and fatality rates than others. The exact reasons for such variations are not clear yet. This review discussed the possible effects of air pollution on COVID-19 infections and mortality based on some recent evidence. The findings of most studies reviewed here demonstrate that both short-term and long-term exposure to air pollution especially PM2.5 and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) may contribute significantly to higher rates of COVID-19 infections and mortalities with a lesser extent also PM10. A significant correlation has been found between air pollution and COVID-19 infections and mortality in some countries in the world. The available data also indicate that exposure to air pollution may influence COVID-19 transmission. Moreover, exposure to air pollution may increase vulnerability and have harmful effects on the prognosis of patients affected by COVID-19 infections. Further research should be conducted considering some potential confounders such as age and pre-existing medical conditions along with exposure to NO2, PM2.5 and other air pollutants to confirm their detrimental effects on mortalities from COVID-19.


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