COVID-19 Pandemic: Outbreak, Epidemiology and Immunology

The SARS-CoV-2 virus-led COVID-19 pandemic jolted the whole world at different levels. Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) caused death in severe cases leading to millions of mortalities. This chapter attempts to present an overview of the whole fiasco created by the spread of the virus along with the historical background, structural features and important proteins of the virus, modes of infection and transmission and different diagnostic means like viral and antibody tests. The authors have presented the latest statistical data on the number of cases and mortalities reported across the globe and also elaborated on the probable remedial interventions like the different antiviral, antimalarial drugs which are being explored for treatment and also explored the utility and applications of drug repurposing and computational strategies for drug development. The authors have also elaborated on the different vaccines developed to curb the disease and explained the development of COVID-19 vaccines for children. Overall the chapter has summarized key facts associated with COVID-19 in a nutshell and it may prove beneficial to the readers to understand the disease more clearly

Keywords: ACE-2, Envelope Protein, Gag-Pol Polyprotein, MERS, NAAT, Nucleocapsid Protein, OTC Tests, RT-PCR, RdRp, SARS-CoV-2, SARS, Spike Protein