Abstract
Humans have witnessed three deadly pandemics so far in the twenty-first century which are associated with novel coronaviruses: SARS, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and COVID-19. All of these viruses, which are responsible for causing acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs), are highly contagious in nature and/or have caused high mortalities. The recently emerged COVID-19 disease is a highly transmittable viral infection caused by another zoonotic novel coronavirus named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Similar to the other two coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 is also likely to have originated from bats, which have been serving as established reservoirs for various pathogenic coronaviruses. Although, it is still unknown how SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted from bats to humans, the rapid human-to-human transmission has been confirmed widely. The disease first appeared in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 and quickly spread across the globe, infected 48,539,872 people, and caused 1,232,791 deaths in 215 countries, and the infection is still spreading at the time of manuscript preparation. So far, there is no definite line of treatment which has been approved or vaccine which is available. However, different types of potential vaccines and therapeutics have been evaluated and/or are under clinical trials against COVID-19. In this review, we summarize different types of acute respiratory diseases and briefly discuss earlier outbreaks of coronaviruses and compare their occurrence and pathogenicity with the current COVID-19 pandemic. Various epidemiological aspects of COVID-19 such as mode of spread, death rate, doubling time, etc., have been discussed in detail. Apart from this, different technical issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic including use of masks and other socio-economic problems associated with the pandemic have also been summarized. Additionally, we have reviewed various aspects of patient management strategies including mechanism of action, available diagnostic tools, etc., and also discussed different strategies for the development of effective vaccines and therapeutic combinations to deal with this viral outbreak. Overall, by the inclusion of various references, this review covers, in detail, the most important aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Highlights
The outbreak of various infectious diseases has significantly impacted the lives of millions of people [1,2]
A large network of laboratories developed throughout the countries which were connected to the Influenza Research Center based in London, which allowed to study the strain soon after it emerged [56]
A decade later in 2012, another outbreak of coronavirus infection was reported in Saudi Arabia, which is known as Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV)
Summary
The outbreak of various infectious diseases has significantly impacted the lives of millions of people [1,2] These diseases have strained our medical and public health facilities and burdened economists, scientists, and politicians in responding to the financial hardships, discovery of vaccines, and dealing with public anxieties and expectations, respectively [3,4,5,6]. 1,232,791 confirmed deaths have been reported in 215 countries and territories around the world resulting from COVID-19 [13] This disease has caused a massive global health challenge and has created ripples in the medical fraternity [14]. It requires unprecedented strategies such as massive surveillance to prevent spreading, creation of a sophisticated network of diagnostics and medical facilities for immediate detection and treatment of the disease, and extensive research for the quick development of drugs and vaccines for future protections [15,16]
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