Coronaviruses - Volume 2, Issue 7, 2021

Objective: In January 2020, scientists deciphered the first genome of SARS-CoV-2 that has created a ravage in the world by infecting over 30 million people worldwide with above 0.95 million deaths as of mid-September 2020. With no potent therapeutics against COVID-19, researchers around the world are relentlessly working for the development of a vaccine that can ease the pain the world is suffering today, both in terms of economic and psychological instability. Understanding the genome of SARS-CoV-2 is essential to decipher the keys that would help scientists to develop drugs or vaccines to prevent the disease. Methods: Coronaviruses are not unknown to the human as other than SARS-CoV-2, at least six additional coronaviruses (SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, HCoV-229E, HCoV-NL63, HCoV-OC43, and HCoV-HKU1) are known that causes mild to severe diseases in human. We have compared the sequences of these seven coronaviruses to identify the key regions which are responsible for pathogenesis. Results: The genomes of the seven coronaviruses that are known to infect humans differ significantly, especially in the regions of accessory genes. Conclusion: The analysis of these virus genomes is the key to find out targets for the development of a potent drug or vaccine against COVID-19.

Nigella sativa (Family Ranunculaceae) is a common medicinal plant all across the world. It is quite popular in different traditional medicinal systems such as Unani, Ayurveda, Tibb, and Siddha. Oil and Seeds have a long tradition of folk medicine utilized in different medicinal systems and food. The seeds of N. Sativa have indeed been widely applied in the treatment of many diseases, ailments, and also as an immune booster. Our research goal was to primarily concentrate on the therapeutic efficacy of Nigella sativa in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: The coronavirus, which is now spreading around the world as a pandemic has caused more than 30 million cases and nearly 1000,000 deaths worldwide. No vaccine has been used against the virus so far, and there are no specific drugs to cure the patients. This paper examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on employees’ health, either in the governmental or private sector. The aim of this study was to protect the staff against the disease in pandemic conditions by identifying the main ways to keep employees healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic in different scenarios. Methods: This paper is a perspective article, and different scenarios were assessed for the consideration of employee health. Results: Two scenarios could be considered first, when the vaccine against COVID-19 is not available for the prevention and the second scenario is that the vaccine is available for all in the world. In both cases, maintaining the health of the staff will be different. If the coronavirus disease will continue to occur in humans till the access to a safe vaccine is not possible, emphasis on maintaining health standards, keeping a social distance, and wearing the mask are the only ways to deal with this life threatening disease. Even after the preparation of the vaccine, maintaining health standards, keeping a social distancing, and wearing the mask must be continued. Conclusion: The high level of health for the employee must be considered by governments in different scenarios.

An emergent coronavirus, now named Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was declared a pandemic on the 22nd March 2020. It has since caused unprecedented pressures on the healthcare systems worldwide, leading to over five million cases and over three hundred thousand deaths. This has resulted in a global struggle to fight this disease, without any known cure or any definite treatment and with no vaccine. This challenge is exemplified by many with COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) rapidly deteriorating to critical illness, developing respiratory failure, multi-organ dysfunction or failure, and septic shock. This rapid deterioration is thought to be due to the activation of the cytokine storm. The cytokine storm is characterised by mass cytokine and chemokine release, leading to widespread multi-organ damage. One of these such cytokines that plays a role in the cytokine storm is Interleukin (IL-) 6. Raised levels of IL-6 in many diseases have been observed to both correlate with disease severity and predict poor outcomes. Early studies began to show high levels of IL-6 in those with severe and critical COVID-19, and there is ongoing research into immune modulators to block IL-6, in the hope of halting disease progression and improving the chance of recovery. This article will explore the role that IL-6 plays in COVID-19 and whether an IL-6 blockade can prevent poor outcomes and reduce mortality.

In December 2019, in Wuhan, China, an outbreak of a respiratory disease was reported, and the causative agent of which was discovered to be the new coronavirus. This disease spread rapidly around the world, and in March 2020, the WHO declared a state of pandemic. According to the WHO situation in October report, more than 41,570.883 were affected, and 1,134.940 deaths had occurred. Thus, the urgency to find therapeutic targets to prevent viral replication and a vaccine to protect against the disease became a great challenge for researchers around the world. A French group began using, in patients, a drug that had already been approved for human use, hydroxychloroquine (HQ) alone or in combination with azithromycin. The use of a drug already approved by regulatory agencies can enable treatment strategies to be put in place rapidly; however, even though in vitro may indicate success, this is not always guaranteed. For HQ, some studies have shown a satisfactory response in patients, while in many others, the result was not positive and patients actually died. Furthermore, many adverse effects of HQ have been described. In this review, we will briefly discuss how this therapy became an option for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection. We will address the use of HQ in different pathologies and COVID-19 specifically; describing the doses used, as well as the main adverse effects. The take-home message is that more efforts are still required to conclude the efficacy of HQ against COVID-19, however, most of the studies carried out currently are showing that the use of HQ does not bring benefits during treatment of COVID-19.

The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was first reported in Wuhan, China, and soon the infection turned into a pandemic. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for the spread of COVID-19 infection. The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed 4.20% of total deaths globally (March 21, 2020). Within four months (July 21, 2020), the rate of confirmed total deaths was recorded up to 4.17% globally. In India, 909 confirmed cases and 19 deaths were reported by Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, on March 28, 2020. Over a period of 123 days in India, 1638870 confirmed cases and 35684 deaths were reported. COVID-19 can potentially spread from person to person through direct contact or respiratory droplets from coughing and sneezing. The most common symptoms are fever, dry cough, difficulty in breathing, and fatigue. A pregnant mother with COVID-19 has fewer chances of transferring this infection to her newborn baby. Children are less affected than adults from this virus. A specific antiviral drug or vaccine has not been developed to cure the disease to date. Drugs including chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir, ritonavir, nafamostat, nitazoxanide, and remdesivir, have been observed to be effective for treating COVID-19. Many vaccine candidates are under investigation in pre-clinical and clinical studies. In this review, we highlight the epidemiology, signs and symptoms, pathogenesis, and mode of transmission of the infection caused by COVID-19, and its effects on a pregnant mother and newborn, and children. We also highlight the preventive measures and drugs that are effective for treating COVID-19.

A coronavirus is a group of nonsegmented, single-stranded, enveloped viruses having positive RNA genomes. This virus was first described in 1931, and the first coronavirus was isolated (HCoV-229E) from humans in 1965. People be-come infected with four human coronavirus strains: 229E, NL63, OC43, and HKU1, which cause respiratory associated problems such as SARS and MERS. Lately, a new version of a strain called SARD-CoV-2 has been found. WHO called it novel coronavirus-infected pneumonia (NCIP) and later officially renamed as COVID-19 on 11th Feb 2020. The outbreak began in Wuhan, Hubei, China, in Dec 2019 and from now the outbreak becomes pandemic. Here, we have reviewed various categories of therapeutics, vaccines, and clinically investigated drugs to treat and prevent n-COVID-19. Till now, no specific FDA approved drugs or vaccines are available against n-COVID-19. Several options can be visualized to control or prevent emerging infections, including antivirals, immunomodulators, interferons, vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, and bio- molecules. Given the urgency of the outbreak, we have discussed some potential existing therapeutics for treating n-COVID-19.

Background: COVID-19, a Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARSCov- 2), was first diagnosed in the patients from Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Within a couple of months of infection, it was declared as pandemic by the World health organization. COVID-19 has become the most contagious infection with a serious threat to global health. In this review, we aimed to discuss the pathogenesis, diagnostics, current treatments and potential vaccines for COVID-19. Methods: An extensive literature search was conducted using keywords “COVID-19”; “Coronavirus”; “SARS-Cov-2”; “SARS” in public domains of Google, Google scholar, PubMed, and ScienceDirect. Selected articles were used to construct this review. Results: SARS-Cov-2 uses the Spike (S) protein on its surface to recognize the receptor on angiotensin- converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and bind with 10-folds greater affinity than SARS-Cov-1. Molecular assays and immunoassays are the most frequently used tests, whereas computed tomography (CT) scans and artificial intelligence enabled diagnostic tools were also used in patients. In therapeutic treatment, few drugs were repurposed and about 23 therapeutic molecules, including the repurposed drugs are at different stages of the clinical trial. Similarly, the development of vaccines is also in the pipeline. Few countries have managed well to contain the spread by rapid testing and identifying the clusters. Conclusion: Till now, the acute complications and mortality of COVID-19 have been linked to pre-existing comorbid conditions or age. Besides the development of therapeutic strategies that include drugs and vaccine, the long term implication of COVID-19 infection in terms of the disorder/ disability in the cured/discharged patients is a new area to investigate.

In December 2019, a novel coronavirus named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) rapidly infected a large population in Wuhan city, Hubei province, China. Since then, it has been spread all over the world, causing a pandemic termed as Coronavirus Disease 2019 or COVID-19. It has infected over 32 million people and caused more than nine lakhs casualties worldwide to date. Till now, no specific drug or vaccine has been developed to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2. WHO has announced that maintaining personal hygiene and social distancing are the best available options against COVID-19. Various experimental and re-purposed drugs are being used as preventive and supportive therapy in different parts of the world. Comprehensive information about SARS-CoV-2 is required to develop therapeutic approaches for the prevention of COVID-19. In this article, we have comprehensively reviewed the origin, structure, and infection mechanism of SARS-CoV-2. We have also discussed the pathology of COVID-19, and various therapeutic interventions that are being used for drug development against COVID-19.

diseases initiated by Coronavirus (CoV) have become the major public health problems worldwide in the last two decades. The recent emergence of the deadly COVID-19 due to SARS-CoV-2 has created unprecedented pandemic situations around the globe making the need for antiviral molecules to treat it. Encountering the health conditions of the patients with synthetic molecules has shown some unpredictable results, including side effects. To face this complex situation, natural products can be good sources of enormous treatment options with fewer side effects. Wide diversity, easy availability, and a good number of scientific researches on Asian origin natural products can be a great tool to meet this critical situation. This paper reviews the currently available Asian natural products with potential antiviral effects on CoV. It includes the potential natural products of whole plant extract, partial plant extract, isolated pure compounds, and isolated pure set of compounds. Besides, the available information of in vitro and in silico from very recent papers are also summarized for the ease of future research. As a rapid search for a potential anti-CoV therapy is undergoing, Asian natural products will provide promising results but still, there are many challenges in front of us, including the robust in vitro assay to confirm the antiviral property, toxicity analysis, and fulfillment of regulatory needs. The use of appropriate natural products with the potential for a safe and more effective anti-CoV property requires multidisciplinary research with preclinical and clinical researchers, which will improve their clinical applications.

Background: In the past two decades, the human coronavirus (HCoV) outbreaks have gripped the international communities almost six times in different forms [HCoV-OC43 (2001); HCoV-NL63 (2004); SARS-CoV (2003); HCoV HKU1 (2005); MERS- CoV (2012); SARS-CoV- -2 (2019)]. These emerging pathogens have been proven very challenging from medical perspectives, economic conditions, and psychological impact on human society. Introduction: SARS-CoV-2, a novel coronavirus, has evidenced a historic yet troublesome pandemic across the globe. In humans, its clinical manifestations may range from asymptomatic, severe pneumonia to mortality. Bats are the natural reservoirs of a variety of viruses belonging to the family Coronaviridae. Most of the bats harboring coronaviruses mainly reside in Asian and African regions. Objective: The objective was to describe the various characteristic features of all coronaviruses, clinical manifestations, and complications associated with SARS-CoV-2. The major goal was to highlight the involvement of the strong immune system of bats in the cross-species transmission of coronaviruses in intermediate hosts and, finally, zoonotic transmission in humans. Methodology: A systematic literature search was conducted for high quality research and review articles. We searched the databases for articles published between the year 1972 to 2020 with search terms zoonosis, coronaviruses, zoonotic transmissions, clinical manifestations, and the immune system of bats. Conclusion: The domestic and non-domestic animals come in closer contact with humans. Some requisite measures should be taken to decrease the contact with livestock to prevent further threatening viral transmissions. Furthermore, the remarkable immune system of bats is required to inquire thoroughly to develop novel therapeutics to conquer the evolving coronaviruses in the future.

Background: We present the case of a 55-year-old woman, admitted to the Infectious Disease Department of Policlinico Umberto I, Rome, in mid-March 2020, with suspicion of COVID-19 infection. Objective: The rRT-PCR was negative, and the following CT scan, performed to exclude false-negative results and help diagnosis, was inconclusive. Methods: It was decided to submit the patient to a 99mTc-HMPAO-labelled leukocyte scan. Results: This exam led to the diagnosis of infective endocarditis. Conclusion: In the present pandemic scenario, 99mTc-HMPAO-labelled leukocyte scan represents a reliable imaging technique for differential diagnosis with COVID-19 in patients with confusing clinical signs, possible false-negative rRT-PCR results, and inconclusive CT scan.