The ongoing COVID‐19 pandemic caused by SARS‐CoV‐2 is associated with high morbidity and mortality. This zoonotic virus has emerged in Wuhan of China in December 2019 from bats and pangolins probably and continuing the human‐to‐human transmission globally since last two years. As there is no efficient approved treatment, a number of vaccines were developed at an unprecedented speed to counter the pandemic. Moreover, vaccine hesitancy is observed that may be another possible reason for this never ending pandemic. In the meantime, several variants and mutations were identified and causing multiple waves globally. Now the safety and efficacy of these vaccines are debatable and recommended to determine whether vaccines are able to interrupt transmission of SARS‐CoV‐2 variant of concern (VOC). Moreover, the VOCs continue to emerge that appear more transmissible and less sensitive to virus‐specific immune responses. In this overview, we have highlighted various drugs and vaccines used to counter this pandemic along with their reported side effects. Moreover, the preliminary data for the novel VOC “Omicron” are discussed with the existing animal models.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome called coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Due to its concerning rate of transmission and intensity, coronavirus was classified as a pandemic on March 11, 2020. With the continuous evolution of the viral genome and mutations that may alter infectivity, disease severity or interactions with host immunity, SARS-CoV-2 has evolved into many variants: Alpha (B.1.1.7 lineage), Delta (B.1.617.2 lineage), Delta plus (B.1.617.2.1), Omicron (B.1.1.529 lineage) and other variants. Thus, this study aimed to find and provide database for local clinical characteristics of different variants of SARS-COV-2 and severity of infection with viral load compared with the wild
... Show MoreSevere acute respiratory corona viruses (SARS-COVs) are a particular category of RNA viruses that have emerged as a potential danger to the human population, triggering epidemics and pandemics that have resulted in catastrophic human mortality. The SARS-CoV2, responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic that began on December 12, 2019 in Wuhan, China, has been linked to bats. A new SARS-CoV-2 variant appeared in late December 2020. Mutations with variants continued to appear until the time of this study. Thus, this study aimed to provide a local database among Iraqi patients about SARS-COV-2 variants as there have been very few local studies documenting its existence and its relationship with the progression and severity of infection.
... Show MoreSince the appearance of COVID-19 disease as an epidemic and pandemic disease, many studies are performed to uncover the genetic nature of the newly discovered coronavirus with unique clinical features. The last three human coronavirus outbreaks, SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 are caused by Beta-Coronaviruses. Horizontal genetic materials transfer was proven from one coronavirus to the other coronavirus of non-human origin like infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) of avian. Horizontal genetic materials transfer was also from non-corona viruses like astroviruses and equine rhinovirus (ERV-2) or from coronavirus-unrelated viruses, like influenza virus type C. However, SARS-CoV-2 is identical to SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. Interestingly, Wuhan ci
... Show MoreRecently emerging pandemic SARS CoV-2 conquered our world since December 2019. Continuous efforts have been done to find out effective immunization and precise treatment stetratigies A way from therapeutic options that were tried in SARS CoV-2, an increased attention is directed to predict natural products and mainly phytochemicals as collaborative measures for this crisis. In this review, most of the mentioned compounds specially flavonoids (biacalin, hesperidin, quercetin, luteolin,, and phenolic (resveratrol, curcumin, and theaflavin) exert their effect through interfering with the action of one or more of this proteins (spike protein, papain like protease, 3 chymotrypsin like cysteine protease, and RNA dependent RNA
... Show MoreDespite efforts to contain and manage the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak which was declared a public health emergency of international concern in January 2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO), the COVID-19 pandemic still remains a major global challenge. Patients who display the classical symptoms of the infection are easily identified, tested, isolated and monitored. However, many cases of infected asymptomatic patients have been documented. These patients are not easily identified even though many evidences suggest that they can spread the virus to others. How and why these COVID-19 asymptomatic presentations occur remain unclear. The many theories and views are conjectural, and supporting evidences are still needed. In this review, we
... Show MoreIntroduction: COVID-19 vaccine have been indicated to successfully decrease the hazard for symptomatic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection furthermore associated hospitalisations. Objective: To study the immune response among different types of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. Methods: This study includes 100 vaccinated individuals (43 Sinopharm, 30 AstraZeneca and 27 Pfizer) with one or two doses from different health centres in Baghdad. During the period from April 2021 to the end of May 2021, SARS-CoV-2 IgG and SARS-CoV-2 IgM levels were detected using AFIAS-6 device depending on FIA (Fluorescence Immunoassay) technique. Results: 93% of the cases were positive for IgG levels, and negative in 7% case
... Show MoreVaccination against novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) become highly recommended. In Iraq, three vaccines are available. They are Pfizer-Biontech, Oxford-AstraZenica, and Sino harm vaccines. A cross-sectional retrospective study was performed to a total of 2399 individual who are vaccinated with one of the available vaccines. People who are infected with Covid-19 before and/or after vaccination of either studied SARS-CoV-2 vaccines were also involved in this study (1175 case). Signs and symptoms have been reported for each of confirmed positive cases of Coronavirus disease. Statistical data analyses were applied to reveal the effect of different SARS-CoV-2 vaccines on the incidence of novel coronavirus disease among Iraqi population. Also, the
... Show MoreCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has become a pandemic worldwide. On a daily basis the number of deaths associated with COVID-19 is rapidly increasing. The main transmission route of SARS-CoV-2 is through the air (airborne transmission). This review details the airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the aerodynamics, and different modes of transmission (e.g. droplets, droplet nuclei, and aerosol particles). SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted by an infected person during activities such as expiration, coughing, sneezing, and talking. During such activities and some medical procedures, aerosols and droplets contaminated with SARS-CoV-2 particles are formed. Depending on their
... Show MoreThe pandemic SARS-CoV-2 is highly transmittable with its proliferation among nations. This study aims to design and exploring the efficacy of novel nirmatrelvir derivatives as SARS entry inhibitors by adapting a molecular modeling approach combined with theoretical design. The study focuses on the preparation of these derivatives and understanding their effectiveness, with a special focus on their binding affinity to the S protein, which is pivotal for the virus’s access to the host cell. Considering molecular docking aspects in the scope of a study on nirmatrelvir derivatives and S protein, dynamics simulations with 25 nanoseconds of their binding are explored. The study shows that these derivatives might work as effective antivi
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