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A Guide to COVID‐19: a global pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus SARS‐CoV‐2
Author(s) -
Atzrodt Cassandra L.,
Maknojia Insha,
McCarthy Robert D. P.,
Oldfield Tiara M.,
Po Jonathan,
Ta Kenny T. L.,
Stepp Hannah E.,
Clements Thomas P.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the febs journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.981
H-Index - 204
eISSN - 1742-4658
pISSN - 1742-464X
DOI - 10.1111/febs.15375
Subject(s) - pandemic , virology , coronavirus , covid-19 , pneumonia , transmission (telecommunications) , virus , medicine , epidemiology , disease , outbreak , infectious disease (medical specialty) , pathology , electrical engineering , engineering
The emergence of the SARS‐CoV‐2 strain of the human coronavirus has thrown the world into the midst of a new pandemic. In the human body, the virus causes COVID‐19, a disease characterized by shortness of breath, fever, and pneumonia, which can be fatal in vulnerable individuals. SARS‐CoV‐2 has characteristics of past human coronaviruses, with close genomic similarities to SARS‐CoV, the virus that causes the disease SARS. Like these related coronaviruses, SARS‐CoV‐2 is transmitted through the inhalation of droplets and interaction with contaminated surfaces. Across the world, laboratories are developing candidate vaccines for the virus – with vaccine trials underway in the United States and the United Kingdom – and considering various drugs for possible treatments and prophylaxis. Here, we provide an overview of SARS‐CoV‐2 by analyzing its virology, epidemiology, and modes of transmission while examining the current progress of testing procedures and possible treatments through drugs and vaccines.