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Social Distancing and Quarantine as COVID-19 Control Remedy
Published in Hanadi Talal Ahmedah, Muhammad Riaz, Sagheer Ahmed, Marius Alexandru Moga, The Covid-19 Pandemic, 2023
Adeel Ahmad, Muhammad Hussaan, Fatima Batool, Sahar Mumtaz, Nagina Rehman, Samina Yaqoob, Humaira Kausar
Many studies were reported that Coronavirus infected many species, but no evidence was found regarding its infections in humans till mid of 1960s. It belongs to enveloped, single stranded RNA viruses in order of Nidovirales, family Coronaviridae and subfamily Coronavirinae. On the basis of genetic makeup and cross-reactivity of different antigens, 26 different species named alpha, beta, gamma, and delta were recognized. Among these, only two strains, i.e., alpha, and betacoronavirus, are pathogenic to humans [10]. The COVID-19 is thought to be originated from bats because of its close genetic match (96%) with bats CoVs. However, no tangible link is found for another host’s existence before transmission to humans, although viruses share about 92% similarities to pangolin CoVs. Few evidences have suggested that SARS-CoV-2 might be that bat-borne virus which is transferred to pangolin then back to bats and then back to humans due to some incorporating homology of pangolin.
Order Nidovirales
Published in Paul Pumpens, Peter Pushko, Philippe Le Mercier, Virus-Like Particles, 2022
Paul Pumpens, Peter Pushko, Philippe Le Mercier
In contrast to the well-known human betacoronaviruses that are described later, the human alphacoronaviruses including human coronavirus NL63 (HCoV-NL63) cause mainly mild infections of the upper respiratory tract (van der Hoek et al. 2004), while SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2 are responsible for severe disease with high morbidity and mortality rate, as reviewed by Vellingiri et al. (2020). Moreover, the importance of the studies in human alphacoronaviruses is growing due to the established facts that the preexisting HCoV-NL63 antibody response is cross reacting with SARS-CoV-2 (Simula et al. 2020). It was suggested accordingly by the authors that the previous exposure to HCoV-NL63 epitopes would produce antibodies that could confer a protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2 and probably reduce the severity of the disease.
Current Epidemiological and Clinical Features of COVID-19; a Global Perspective From China
Published in William C. Cockerham, Geoffrey B. Cockerham, The COVID-19 Reader, 2020
Huilan Tu, Sheng Tu, Shiqi Gao, Anwen Shao, Jifang Sheng
Coronaviruses were first described by Tyrell and Bynoe in 1966, who isolated the viruses from patients suffering from the common cold.6 Tyrell and Bynoe called them coronaviruses because they are spherical virions with a core shell and surface projections resembling a solar corona.7 Coronaviruses are members of the subfamily Coronavirinae in the family Coronaviridae, order Nidovirales. Members of this subfamily were genetically classified into four major genera: Alphacoronavirus, Betacoronavirus, Gammacoronavirus, and Deltacoronavirus.8 Alphacoronaviruses and betacoronaviruses infect only mammals and usually cause respiratory illness in humans and gastroenteritis in animals. The gammacoronaviruses and deltacoronaviruses predominantly infect birds, but some can also infect mammals.9 Six types of coronavirus have been identified in humans (HCoVs), including HCoV-NL63, HCoV-229E, HCoV-OC43, HCoV-HKU1, SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV. The first two belong to the Alphacoronavirus genus and the latter four to the genus Betacoronavirus.10 SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV can cause severe respiratory syndrome in humans, while the other four human coronaviruses induce only mild upper respiratory diseases in immunocompetent hosts.11,12 Coronaviruses did not attract worldwide attention until the 2003 SARS epidemic, followed by the 2012 MERS outbreak and, most recently, the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Bat coronaviruses related to SARS-CoV-2: what about their 3CL proteases (MPro)?
Published in Journal of Enzyme Inhibition and Medicinal Chemistry, 2022
Matteo Pavan, Davide Bassani, Mattia Sturlese, Stefano Moro
Since its outbreak in December 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused to date the death of almost 6 million people all around the world1,2. This worldwide-spread disease is caused by a betacoronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2, which infects the respiratory system of the host organism compromising its health status3. The symptoms of this illness range from the ones typical of influenza (cough, fever, and headache) to very serious complications such as breathing difficulty, pneumonia, and hypoxia, eventually leading to respiratory failure and death4. The high transmissibility of the SARS-CoV-2 virus allowed its fast diffusion all around the world, rapidly attracting the interest of experts in the medical, biological, and pharmaceutical environments, who have extensively worked and are still putting relevant efforts into the elaboration of proper solutions to fight this pathogen.
The assessment of serum ACE activity in COVID-19 and its association with clinical features and severity of the disease
Published in Scandinavian Journal of Clinical and Laboratory Investigation, 2021
Aslihan Avanoglu Guler, Nezrin Tombul, Pınar Aysert Yıldız, Hasan Selçuk Özger, Kenan Hızel, Ozlem Gulbahar, Abdurrahman Tufan, Gonca Erbaş, Gülbin Aygencel, Ozlem Guzel Tunçcan, Murat Dizbay, Mehmet Akif Öztürk
Betacoronaviruses (Beta-CoVs), primarily leading to respiratory and gastrointestinal infection in humans, are responsible for life-threatening outbreaks, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and recently identified SARS-CoV-2 infection [1–3]. SARS-CoV-2 infection, namely coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has rapidly become a global catastrophe with resulting in serious complications such as severe lung inflammation, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), thrombosis, cardiac and renal injury [4–7]. COVID-19 has a wide range of clinical presentations, ranging from asymptomatic to severe disease. The severe disease usually has been observed in patients with older age and comorbidities, including, hypertension (HTN) cardiovascular disease (CVD), heart failure (HF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and diabetes mellitus (DM) [8–11].
Exploit T cell Immunity for Rapid, Safe and Effective COVID-19 Vaccines
Published in Expert Review of Vaccines, 2020
Leonard Moise, Ted M. Ross, Daniel F. Hoft, William D. Martin, Anne S. De Groot
Furthermore, investment in T cell-directed vaccines may lead to the development of vaccines that can simultaneously target SARS-CoV-2, SARS-like viruses and potentially other betacoronaviruses. SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV-1 conserved T cell epitopes in various antigens have been predicted using immunoinformatics and identified among T cell epitopes recognized by convalescent and naïve donors, suggesting that some regions are critical to viral fitness and are unchanging despite continuous evolution [20,21]. Vaccines containing such epitopes may induce memory T cells that could recognize betacoronaviruses yet to emerge after undergoing convergent evolution similar to SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2. Naïve donors have also recognized SARS-CoV-2 T cell epitopes, suggesting cross-conserved memory T cells induced by exposure to common cold coronaviruses may be circulating in some individuals [22–24]. Thus, T cell memory may be available to boost immune responses against a SARS-CoV-2 epitope-driven vaccine. Notably, in the quest for a universal influenza vaccine, the BiondVax T cell epitope vaccine was the first to reach efficacy trials, outstripping traditional hemagglutinin-based strategies that have otherwise received more attention in the scientific community.