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Review
. 2020 Dec:179:85-100.
doi: 10.1016/j.biochi.2020.09.018. Epub 2020 Sep 22.

The emergence of COVID-19 as a global pandemic: Understanding the epidemiology, immune response and potential therapeutic targets of SARS-CoV-2

Shibi Muralidar  1 , Senthil Visaga Ambi  2 , Saravanan Sekaran  3 , Uma Maheswari Krishnan  4
Affiliations
Review

The emergence of COVID-19 as a global pandemic: Understanding the epidemiology, immune response and potential therapeutic targets of SARS-CoV-2

Shibi Muralidar et al. Biochimie. 2020 Dec.

Abstract

An acute respiratory disease caused by a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that surfaced in China in late 2019, continues to spread rapidly across the globe causing serious concerns. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is declared as a public health emergency worldwide by the World Health Organization (WHO). Increasing evidences have demonstrated human-to-human transmission that primarily affects the upper respiratory tract followed by lower respiratory tract damage leading to severe pneumonia. Based on the current status, the elderly population and people with prior co-morbidities are highly susceptible to serious health effects including cytokine up-regulation and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Currently, COVID-19 research is still in the preliminary stage necessitating rigorous studies. There is no specific drug or vaccine targeting SARS-CoV-2 currently and only symptomatic treatment is being administered, but several antivirals are under active investigation. In this review, we have summarized the epidemiology, entry mechanism, immune response, and therapeutic implications, possible drug targets, their ongoing clinical trials, and put forward vital questions to offer new directions to the COVID-19 research.

Keywords: Clinical trials; Immune response; MERS-CoV; SARS-CoV; SARS-CoV-2.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Image 1
Graphical abstract
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Timeline with key events of COVID-19 pandemic.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Graphical representation of: (A) Global COVID-19 confirmed and emergent cases, (B) Fatalities reported till August 16, 2020 (Source: WHO Situation Reports).
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The structure of SARS-CoV-2.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Schematic representation of taxonomy of Coronaviridae (according to the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses).
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
The immune response against CoV.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Potential targets for the blockade of SARS-CoV-2 entry.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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