tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Emerg Microbes Infect
. 2021 Mar 5;1-89.
doi: 10.1080/22221751.2021.1898291. Online ahead of print.
Lessons learned one year after SARS-CoV-2 emergence leading to COVID-19 pandemic
Kelvin Kai-Wang To[SUP] 1 2 3 4 [/SUP], Siddharth Sridhar[SUP] 1 2 3 4 [/SUP], Kelvin Hei-Yeung Chiu[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Derek Ling-Lung Hung[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Xin Li[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Ivan Fan-Ngai Hung[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Anthony Raymond Tam[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Tom Wai-Hin Chung[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Jasper Fuk-Woo Chan[SUP] 1 2 3 4 [/SUP], Anna Jian-Xia Zhang[SUP] 1 2 3 [/SUP], Vincent Chi-Chung Cheng[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Kwok-Yung Yuen[SUP] 1 2 3 4 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Without modern medical management and vaccines, the severity of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome(SARS) coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) might approach the magnitude of 1894-plague (12 million deaths) and 1918-A(H1N1) influenza (50 million deaths) pandemics. The COVID-19 pandemic was heralded by the 2003 SARS epidemic which led to the discovery of human and civet SARS-CoV-1, bat SARS-related-CoVs, Middle East respiratory syndrome(MERS)-related bat CoV HKU4 and HKU5, and other novel animal coronaviruses. The suspected animal-to-human jumping of 4 betacoronaviruses including the human coronaviruses OC43(1890), SARS-CoV-1(2003), MERS-CoV(2012), and SARS-CoV-2(2019) indicates their significant pandemic potential. The presence of a large reservoir of coronaviruses in bats and other wild mammals, culture of mixing and selling them in urban markets with suboptimal hygiene, habit of eating exotic mammals in highly populated areas, and the rapid and frequent air traffic from these areas are perfect ingredients for brewing rapidly exploding epidemics. The possibility of emergence of a hypothetical SARS-CoV-3 or other novel viruses from animals or laboratories, and therefore needs for global preparedness should not be ignored. We reviewed representative publications on the epidemiology, virology, clinical manifestations, pathology, laboratory diagnostics, treatment, vaccination and infection control of COVID-19 as of 20 January 2021, which is one year after person-to-person transmission of SARS-CoV-2 was announced. The difficulties of mass testing, labour-intensive contact tracing, importance of compliance to universal masking, low efficacy of antiviral treatment for severe disease, possibilities of vaccine or antiviral-resistant virus variants and SARS-CoV-2 becoming another common cold coronavirus are discussed.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus.
. 2021 Mar 5;1-89.
doi: 10.1080/22221751.2021.1898291. Online ahead of print.
Lessons learned one year after SARS-CoV-2 emergence leading to COVID-19 pandemic
Kelvin Kai-Wang To[SUP] 1 2 3 4 [/SUP], Siddharth Sridhar[SUP] 1 2 3 4 [/SUP], Kelvin Hei-Yeung Chiu[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Derek Ling-Lung Hung[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Xin Li[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Ivan Fan-Ngai Hung[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Anthony Raymond Tam[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Tom Wai-Hin Chung[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Jasper Fuk-Woo Chan[SUP] 1 2 3 4 [/SUP], Anna Jian-Xia Zhang[SUP] 1 2 3 [/SUP], Vincent Chi-Chung Cheng[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Kwok-Yung Yuen[SUP] 1 2 3 4 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 33666147
- DOI: 10.1080/22221751.2021.1898291
Abstract
Without modern medical management and vaccines, the severity of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome(SARS) coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) might approach the magnitude of 1894-plague (12 million deaths) and 1918-A(H1N1) influenza (50 million deaths) pandemics. The COVID-19 pandemic was heralded by the 2003 SARS epidemic which led to the discovery of human and civet SARS-CoV-1, bat SARS-related-CoVs, Middle East respiratory syndrome(MERS)-related bat CoV HKU4 and HKU5, and other novel animal coronaviruses. The suspected animal-to-human jumping of 4 betacoronaviruses including the human coronaviruses OC43(1890), SARS-CoV-1(2003), MERS-CoV(2012), and SARS-CoV-2(2019) indicates their significant pandemic potential. The presence of a large reservoir of coronaviruses in bats and other wild mammals, culture of mixing and selling them in urban markets with suboptimal hygiene, habit of eating exotic mammals in highly populated areas, and the rapid and frequent air traffic from these areas are perfect ingredients for brewing rapidly exploding epidemics. The possibility of emergence of a hypothetical SARS-CoV-3 or other novel viruses from animals or laboratories, and therefore needs for global preparedness should not be ignored. We reviewed representative publications on the epidemiology, virology, clinical manifestations, pathology, laboratory diagnostics, treatment, vaccination and infection control of COVID-19 as of 20 January 2021, which is one year after person-to-person transmission of SARS-CoV-2 was announced. The difficulties of mass testing, labour-intensive contact tracing, importance of compliance to universal masking, low efficacy of antiviral treatment for severe disease, possibilities of vaccine or antiviral-resistant virus variants and SARS-CoV-2 becoming another common cold coronavirus are discussed.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus.