SARS-CoV-2 and Coronavirus Disease Mitigation: Treatment Options, Vaccinations and Variants

Abstract

COVID-19 is caused by a novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), which was declared as a pandemic after it emerged in China 2019. A vast international effort has been conducted to prevent and treat COVID-19 due to its high transmissibility and severe morbidity and mortality rates, particularly in individuals with chronic co-morbidities. In addition, polymorphic variants increased the need for proper vaccination to overcome the infectivity of new variants that are emerging across the globe. Many treatment options have been proposed and more than 25 vaccines are in various stages of development; however, the infection peaks are oscillating periodically, which raises a significant question about the effectiveness of the prevention measures and the persistence of this pandemic disease. In this review, we are exploring the most recent knowledge and advances in the treatment and vaccination options as well as the new emerging variants of 2019-nCoV and the possible mitigation of one of the most aggressive pandemics in the last centuries.

Anakinra treatment efficacy in reduction of inflammatory biomarkers in COVID‐19 patients: A meta‐analysis

“… 4 , 6 Anakinra has been used empirically across several clinical settings in COVID‐19 and has had positive effects, including mortality reduction. 7 , 8 , 9 As the potential effect of Anakinra is due to inhibition of the pro‐inflammatory cascades, it is likely to lead to suppression of systematic inflammation, control of fever, and inhibition of host inflammatory responses to viral replication in COVID‐19. 7 , 10 Although systematic inflammation may not be significant in all patients, there is evidence of localized hyper‐inflammation in the lungs, making Anakinra an attractive candidate for moderate‐to‐severe COVID‐19 infections as concomitant therapy.…”

“… 16 , 17 The excessively high rates of death are attributed to severe hyper‐inflammation. 4 , 8 , 16 The aim of this meta‐analysis is to document whether anakinra in patients with COVID‐19 pneumonia is beneficial for improvement of inflammatory biomarkers (i.e., CRP, serum ferritin, and d‐dimer).…”

Efficacy of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination in Dialysis Patients: Epidemiological Analysis and Evaluation of the Clinical Progress

“…In the report of 14 December 2021, the World Health Organization described the omicron variant as the faster transmissible viral strain than any previously detected one. Up to now, vaccination has indeed demonstrated highly significant efficacy in lowering the rate of COVID-19 severe illnesses and deaths in the general population [ 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 ]. Our findings confirm that the institution of population-wide vaccination programs started in Europe at the end of the year 2020 also provided major benefits in terms of COVID-19 mortality and hospitalizations in weak patients, including those on dialysis [ 32 , 33 ].…”

Decreased PRESET-Score corresponds with improved survival in COVID-19 veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

“…Different variants of SARS-CoV-2 have been reported to be associated with variable mortality and multiorgan dysfunction. 27 Second, we did not have specific data about changes in COVID-19 VV ECMO patient management practice between the pre- and post-implementation groups. During this time, the understanding of how to treat and manage these patients was rapidly evolving and some of the individual treatments were based on clinician practice patterns.…”