Int J Biol Sci
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The outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The pandemic apparently started in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, and has since affected many countries worldwide, turning into a major global threat. Chinese researchers reported that SARS-CoV-2 could be classified into two major variants. ⋯ There were 149 mutations in 103 sequenced SARS-CoV-2 genomes, 83 of which were nonsynonymous, leading to alteration in the amino acid sequence of proteins. Much effort is currently being devoted to elucidate whether or not these mutations affect viral transmissibility and virulence. In this review, we summarize the mutations in SARS-CoV-2 during the early phase of virus evolution and discuss the significance of the gene alterations in infections.
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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is now a global pandemic that has wreaked havoc globally, which has put a heavy toll on public health, lives, and the world economy. Vaccination is considered as one of the greatest successes in medical history. ⋯ China is regarded as one of the world's leading countries in SARS-CoV-2 vaccine development, up to date the last inactivated vaccine international clinical (Phase III) trial was launched in the United Arab Emirates by Sinopharm China National Biotec Group (CNBG). In this review, we outline the current status of vaccine development against clinically relevant SARS-CoV-2 strains, anticipating that such attempts would help create efficacious and sage SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.
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Rationale: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused a global pandemic. A classifier combining chest X-ray (CXR) with clinical features may serve as a rapid screening approach. Methods: The study included 512 patients with COVID-19 and 106 with influenza A/B pneumonia. ⋯ Moreover, combined classifier was functional in both severe and non-serve COVID-19, with an AUC of 0.971 with 96.9% sensitivity in non-severe cases, which was on par with the computed tomography (CT)-based classifier, but had relatively inferior efficacy in severe cases compared to CT. In extension, we performed a reader study involving three experienced pulmonary physicians, artificial intelligence (AI) system demonstrated superiority in turn-around time and diagnostic accuracy compared with experienced pulmonary physicians. Conclusions: The classifier constructed using clinical and CXR features is efficient, economical, and radiation safe for distinguishing COVID-19 from influenza A/B pneumonia, serving as an ideal rapid screening tool during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Mutation and adaptation have driven the co-evolution of coronaviruses (CoVs) and their hosts, including human beings, for thousands of years. Before 2003, two human CoVs (HCoVs) were known to cause mild illness, such as common cold. The outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) have flipped the coin to reveal how devastating and life-threatening an HCoV infection could be. ⋯ Importantly, we compare and contrast the different HCoVs from a perspective of virus evolution and genome recombination. The current CoV disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic is discussed in this context. In addition, the requirements for successful host switches and the implications of virus evolution on disease severity are also highlighted.
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Recently, more than 300 Chinese patients with psychiatric disorders were diagnosed with the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Possible reasons quoted in the report were the lack of caution regarding the COVID-19 outbreak in January and insufficient supplies of protective gear. We outlined major challenges for patients with psychiatric disorders and mental health professionals during the COVID-19 outbreak, and also discussed how to manage these challenges through further mental health service reform in China.