About Coronaviruses (CoVs) (From Potential Antiviral Agents for Coronavirus-es: Compounds, Herbal Products, and Drug Targets)
- Coronaviruses (CoVs) may lead to lethal infections, but currently no effective antiviral therapeutics or vaccines are available.
- The pandemic of the deadly coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a reminder that such coronaviruses can emerge at any time.
- COVID-19 is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
- Novel human coronaviruses (HCoVs) may lead to severe respiratory tract infections such as bronchiolitis and pneumonia.
- More than 15 years have passed since the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) emerged from China.
- SARS is an acute respiratory disease with high morbidity and mortality.
- The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is another fatal zoonotic virus (Totura and Bavari, 2019).
- These coronaviruses can cause Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) and renal failure.
- They are highly transmissible and can spread from person-to-person through close contact (Totura and Bavari, 2019).
References:
Totura, A. L., & Bavari, S. (2019). Broad-spectrum coronavirus antiviral drug discovery. Expert Opinion on Drug Discovery, 14(4), 397–412. https://doi.org/10.1080/17460441.2019.1581171
