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COVID‐19 breakthroughs: separating fact from fiction
Author(s) -
Dhillon Paraminder,
Breuer Manuel,
Hirst Natasha
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.15442
Subject(s) - pandemic , disease , covid-19 , pace , coronavirus , globe , transmission (telecommunications) , virology , political science , medicine , geography , infectious disease (medical specialty) , outbreak , pathology , geodesy , engineering , electrical engineering , ophthalmology
The newly recognised coronavirus SARS‐CoV‐2, causative agent of coronavirus disease (COVID‐19), has caused a pandemic with huge ramifications for human interactions around the globe. As expected, research efforts to understand the virus and curtail the disease are moving at a frantic pace alongside the spread of rumours, speculations and falsehoods. In this article, we aim to clarify the current scientific view behind several claims or controversies related to COVID‐19. Starting with the origin of the virus, we then discuss the effect of ibuprofen and nicotine on the severity of the disease. We highlight the knowledge on fomites and SARS‐CoV‐2 and discuss the evidence and explications for a disproportionately stronger impact of COVID‐19 on ethnic minorities, including a potential protective role for vitamin D. We further review what is known about the effects of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection in children, including their role in transmission of the disease, and conclude with the science on different mortality rates between different countries and whether this hints at the existence of more pathogenic cohorts of SARS‐CoV‐2.