Department of Head and Neck Surgery, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
Head Neck. 2020 Jul;42(7):1535-1538. doi: 10.1002/hed.26275. Epub 2020 May 23.
The COVID-19 epidemic was not the first coronavirus epidemic of this century and represents one of the increasing number of zoonoses from wildlife to impact global health. SARS CoV-2, the virus causing the COVID-19 epidemic is distinct from, but closely resembles SARS CoV-1, which was responsible for the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2002. SARS CoV-1 and 2 share almost 80% of genetic sequences and use the same host cell receptor to initiate viral infection. However, SARS predominantly affected individuals in close contact with infected animals and health care workers. In contrast, CoV-2 exhibits robust person to person spread, most likely by means of asymptomatic carriers, which has resulted in greater spread of disease, overall morbidity and mortality, despite its lesser virulence. We review recent coronavirus-related epidemics and distinguish clinical and molecular features of CoV-2, the causative agent for COVID-19, and review the current status of vaccine trials.
新型冠状病毒疫情并非本世纪首例冠状病毒疫情，它代表了越来越多的野生动物源性人畜共患病之一，对全球健康造成影响。引发新型冠状病毒疫情的病毒 SARS-CoV-2 与导致 2002 年严重急性呼吸系统综合征（SARS）爆发的 SARS-CoV-1 不同，但密切相关。SARS-CoV-1 和 2 具有近 80%的基因序列相同，并使用相同的宿主细胞受体启动病毒感染。然而，SARS 主要影响与受感染动物和医护人员密切接触的个体。相比之下，SARS-CoV-2 具有很强的人际传播能力，很可能通过无症状携带者传播，这导致疾病传播更广、整体发病率和死亡率更高，尽管其毒性较低。我们回顾了最近与冠状病毒相关的疫情，并区分了引发 COVID-19 的病原体 SARS-CoV-2 的临床和分子特征，并回顾了当前疫苗试验的状况。
