Emergence of Novel Coronavirus and COVID-19: whether to stay or die out?

Abstract

The last century has witnessed several assaults from RNA viruses, resulting in millions of death throughout the world. The 21st century appears no longer an exception, with the trend continued with escalated fear of SARS coronavirus in 2002 and further concern of influenza H5N1 in 2003. A novel influenza virus created the first pandemic of the 21st century, the pandemic flu in 2009 preceded with the emergence of another deadly virus, MERS-CoV in 2012. A novel coronavirus "SARS-CoV-2" (and the disease COVID-19) emerged suddenly, causing a rapid outbreak with a moderate case fatality rate. This virus is continuing to cause health care providers grave concern due to the lack of any existing immunity in the human population, indicating their novelty and lack of previous exposure. The big question is whether this novel virus will be establishing itself in an endemic form or will it eventually die out? Endemic viruses during circulation may acquire mutations to infect naïve, as well as individual with pre-existing immunity. Continuous monitoring is strongly advisable, not only to the newly infected individuals, but also to those recovered individuals who were infected by SARS-CoV-2 as re-infection may lead to the selection of escape mutants and subsequent dissemination to the population. ARTICLE HISTORY

Feline coronavirus drug inhibits the main protease of SARS-CoV-2 and blocks virus replication

“…SARS-CoV-2 is the cause of COVID-19 and is a virus with a significant mutation rate 20 . Also, in some patients the virus has persisted longer than 2 months with some possibility of re-infection 21 . Vaccines are critically important, but still likely a year or more away as this virus will likely present vaccine challenges.…”

SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load, IFNλ Polymorphisms and the Course of COVID-19: An Observational Study

“…According to a study from the China Center for Disease Control, 81% of people infected by SARS-CoV-2 had mild presentations while 14% had severe manifestations and about 5% had critical manifestations with needs for hospitalization and intensive care support [ 3 ]. Although the case fatality rate (CFR) has changed over time from the beginning of the outbreak and differs by location, an initial estimate suggests that CFR for SARS-CoV-2 is 2.58% [ 4 ]. However, it is difficult to calculate the CFR until the outbreak is over, and according to a systematic meta-analysis on the clinical features of COVID-19, in different settings the value may range from 3.75% to 13% [ 5 ].…”

Mass spectrometry analysis of newly emerging coronavirus HCoV-19 spike S protein and human ACE2 reveals camouflaging glycans and unique post-translational modifications

“…Successful innate immune evasion by the HCoV-19 at the early stage of infection might explain the long asymptomatic incubation period during which transmissible virion are produced (Guan et al, 2020; Wang et al, 2020). Cases of HCoV-19 reinfection were also reported suggesting the virus is capable to escape from antibody-mediated neutralization (Biswas et al, 2020). On the other hand, protein glycosylation can also facilitate immune response by sensor molecules or antibodies specific for glycan recognition.…”