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COVID‐19: Virology, biology and novel laboratory diagnosis
Author(s) -
Mohamadian Malihe,
Chiti Hossein,
Shoghli Alireza,
Biglari Sajjad,
Parsamanesh Negin,
Esmaeilzadeh Abdolreza
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
the journal of gene medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.689
H-Index - 91
eISSN - 1521-2254
pISSN - 1099-498X
DOI - 10.1002/jgm.3303
Subject(s) - virology , virus , coronavirus , pneumonia , outbreak , covid-19 , middle east respiratory syndrome , rhinovirus , viral pneumonia , middle east respiratory syndrome coronavirus , immunology , infectivity , medicine , respiratory tract infections , biology , respiratory system , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty)
Background At the end of December 2019, a novel coronavirus tentatively named SARS‐CoV‐2 in Wuhan, a central city in China, was announced by the World Health Organization. SARS‐CoV‐2 is an RNA virus that has become a major public health concern after the outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome‐CoV (MERS‐CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome‐CoV (SARS‐CoV) in 2002 and 2012, respectively. As of 29 October 2020, the total number of COVID‐19 cases had reached over 44 million worldwide, with more than 1.17 million confirmed deaths. Discussion SARS‐CoV‐2 infected patients usually present with severe viral pneumonia. Similar to SARS‐CoV, the virus enters respiratory tract cells via the angiotensin‐converting enzyme receptor 2. The structural proteins play an essential role in budding the virus particles released from different host cells. To date, an approved vaccine or treatment option of a preventive character to avoid severe courses of COVID‐19 is still not available. Conclusions In the present study, we provide a brief review of the general biological features of CoVs and explain the pathogenesis, clinical symptoms and diagnostic approaches regarding monitoring future infectivity and prevent emerging COVID‐19 infections.