Coronaviruses â a new old menace

Authors

  • Anna Golke Division of Microbiology, Department of Preclinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Warsaw University of Life Sciences - SGGW
  • Karolina Piekarska Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias, Ciudad de MĂŠxico, Mexico
  • Tomasz Dzieciątkowski Chair and Department of Medical Microbiology, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18388/pb.2020_357

Abstract

The current pandemic caused by novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has been described as a global health emergency. The outbreak of this virus has raised a number of questions: what exactly is SARS-CoV-2? How transmissible the novel coronavirus is? How severely affected are patients infected with SARS-CoV-2? What are the risk factors for COVID-19? What are the differences between this novel coronavirus and other coronaviruses? To answer these questions, a comparative study of three pathogenic coronaviruses that primarily invade the human respiratory system and may cause death, namely, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-1), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV) and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). This review describes the source of origin, transmission,
and pathogenicity of these viruses. Prevention of SARS-CoV-2 spreading entails home isolation
of suspected cases and those with mild illnesses and strict infection control measures at hospitals that include contact and droplet precautions. The novel coronavirus spreads faster than its two predecessors â the SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV â but has lower fatality rate. The global impact of this new pandemic is still uncertain, but it is a challenge to healthcare
systems around the world.

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Published

2021-01-05