Title:Epidemiology, Evolution, Transmission, and Therapeutics of COVID-19 Outbreak: An Update on the Status
Volume: 2
Issue: 11
Author(s): Karan Singh*, Amit Kumar Mittal*Akash Gujral
Affiliation:
- New York University (NYU) Langone Health Center, NYU Robert I Grossman School of Medicine, New York, 10016 NY,United States
- Amity Institute of Indian System of Medicine (AIISM), Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh (UP),,India
Keywords:
COVID-19, evolution of SARS-CoV-2, replication, emerging disease 2019, diagnostic tools, epidemiology of
COVID-19.
Abstract: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is an etiologic agent of
the respiratory disease in humans known as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The beginning
of the outbreak of the disease was initially reported in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, in December
2019, where patients felt SARS pneumonia-like symptoms with unknown etiology. Since then,
it has been noticed that SARS-CoV-2 positive patients show mild to severe upper respiratory illness.
SARS-CoV-2 belongs to the class of Coronavirus, which is known to make its transfer from
animals to humans and for the concerned virus; investigators have claimed its origin from bat coronavirus
at whole-genome level with a 96% sequence identity. The COVID-19 virus is extremely
contagious and communicable in nature and has spread across the world since its first outbreak documented
in Wuhan, China. On March 9, 2020, World Health Organization (WHO) declared it as a
pandemic, and within a month, it was already reported to have shown its presence in 213 countries
and territories or areas. As of Nov15, 2020, this novel virus has infected approximately. 53.7 million
people and caused 1.3 million mortalities worldwide. However, the mortality rate varied between
3-13% and was influenced by a number of factors, including the demographic distribution
and maybe age, comorbidities, etc. Diagnosis of the disease is a key component of controlling the
spread of the virus, and several techniques, including RT-PCR, ELISA, and sequencing-based approaches,
are in use. To cure COVID-19 patients, as of now, we do not have any safe and effective
treatment. Currently, there is no safe and effective drug for the disease. Furthermore, various pharmaceutical
industries are working on vaccine developments, which are in progress with the final
stages of clinical studies. Therapeutic options are also currently under investigation in various regions
of the world. However, there are various potential therapeutic targets to repurpose the present
antiviral therapy for developing potential interventions against SARS-CoV-2 infection. Boosting
the immune system can also help to prevent the spread of COVID-19 using various medications
and exercises. Here, this review summarizes and discusses the epidemiology, evolution, transmission,
and therapeutics scientific advancements related to this novel pandemic.
