Infections Caused by SARS: Main Characteristics, Targets and Inhibitors

nbsp;SARS-coronavirus (SARS-CoV) originated in China from 2002 to 2003 and caused a global outbreak with 8098 cases and 774 confirmed deaths. More than 15 years later, in less than a year, the new coronavirus (2019-nCoV) has infected more than 44 million people and killed more than 1 million. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought serious consequences for several countries and a worldwide alert about coronaviruses. Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is an emerging infectious viral disease characterized by severe clinical manifestations of the lower respiratory tract that lead to severe lung damage and the spread of the virus to several other organs. Phylogenetic analyzes demonstrate that SARS-CoV-2 shares a 79% identity with SARS-CoV, and just as there was no effective treatment against SARS-CoV, it does not yet exist against SARS-CoV-2. However, researchers from all over the world are dedicating themselves to several studies in an attempt to find the best treatment and prevention against the coronavirus. Thus, this book chapter addresses the main characteristics of SARS, the main targets and drugs that have achieved excellent results in clinical trials.