The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has become a pandemic as of March 2020, creating a global crisis and claiming millions of lives. To halt the pandemic and alleviate its impact on society, economy, and public health, the development of vaccines and antiviral agents against SARS-CoV-2 was a dire need. To date, various platforms have been utilized for SARS-CoV-2 vaccine development, and over 200 vaccine candidates have been produced, many of which have obtained the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for emergency use. Despite this successful development and licensure, concerns regarding the safety and efficacy of these vaccines have arisen, given the unprecedented speed of vaccine development and the newly emerging SARS-CoV-2 strains and variants. In this review, we summarize the different platforms used for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine development, discuss their strengths and limitations, and highlight the major safety concerns and potential risks associated with each vaccine type.
Introduction/Objective The recent outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) began in Hubei province, China in December 2019 and has spread worldwide at an alarming rate. With millions of individuals infected and over two hundred thousand deaths, the necessity to develop fast and efficient diagnostic methods is of high importance. Diagnostic modalities rely on a combination of epidemiology, clinical presentation, laboratory examination, and appropriate imaging to diagnose and distinguish SARS-CoV-2 from other pulmonary infections. The purpose of this paper is to report on currently available diagnostic screening methods for patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 to guide frontline healthcare workers involved with COVID-19 patient care. Methods An electronic literature search was performed for peer-reviewed articles published from January 1, 2020, until April 26, 2020. Articles were then reviewed and included based on the applicability to the topic. Results The preferred diagnostic approach is reverse transcription of the virus’ RNA followed by PCR amplification (RT-PCR). This method recognizes the gene-specific primers to target various viral protein genes, such as the envelope protein gene or the nucleocapsid protein gene, which enables this test to be both sensitive and specific toward SARS-CoV-2. However, this method has been proven to be time-consuming taking hours-to-days for the results. In order to improve the speed and efficiency of diagnostics, newer rapid diagnostic serological tests are being developed for testing SARS-CoV-2, each with its own unique advantages and disadvantages. They could potentially be used as triage tests to rapidly identify patients who are very likely to have COVID-19 in combination with other accurate diagnostic methods. Conclusion Therefore, a combination of diagnostic testing used in a timely manner may be beneficial for the rapid and accurate detection of SARS-CoV-2. This was evident in cases where despite initial negative RT-PCR tests for various patients, who later demonstrate chest CT scans with various degrees of consolidation and ground-glass opacity. Thus establishing the need for radiology diagnosis to be complementary to RT-PCR for COVID-19 patients. Hopefully, the continuous development and use of rapid diagnostic tests and the implementation of public health measures will help control the spread of the disease.
As of March 2020, the time when the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) became a pandemic, our existence has been threatened and the lives of millions have been claimed. With this ongoing global issue, vaccines are considered of paramount importance in curtailing the outbreak and probably a prime gamble to bring us back to ‘ordinary life’. To date, more than 200 vaccine candidates have been produced, many of which were approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency use, with the research and discovery phase of their production process passed over. Capering such a chief practice in COVID-19 vaccine development, and manufacturing vaccines at an unprecedented speed brought many challenges into play and raised COVID-19 vaccine remonstrance. In this review, we highlight relevant challenges to global COVID-19 vaccine development, dissemination, and deployment, particularly at the level of large-scale production and distribution. We also delineate public perception on COVID-19 vaccination and outline the main facets affecting people’s willingness to get vaccinated.
This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability, but it is not yet the definitive version of record. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published in its final form, but we are providing this version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that, during the production process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.