Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Department of Clinical Haematology, School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
J Infect Public Health. 2023 Feb;16(2):233-249. doi: 10.1016/j.jiph.2022.12.019. Epub 2022 Dec 29.
Over the last few years, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) unleashed a global public health catastrophe that had a substantial influence on human physical and mental health, the global economy, and socio-political dynamics. SARS-CoV-2 is a respiratory pathogen and the cause of ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which testified how unprepared humans are for pandemics. Scientists and policymakers continue to face challenges in developing ideal therapeutic agents and vaccines, while at the same time deciphering the pathology and immunology of SARS-CoV-2. Challenges in the early part of the pandemic included the rapid development of diagnostic assays, vaccines, and therapeutic agents. The ongoing transmission of COVID-19 is coupled with the emergence of viral variants that differ in their transmission efficiency, virulence, and vaccine susceptibility, thus complicating the spread of the pandemic. Our understanding of how the human immune system responds to these viruses as well as the patient groups (such as the elderly and immunocompromised individuals) who are often more susceptible to serious illness have both been aided by this epidemic. COVID-19 causes different symptoms to occur at different stages of infection, making it difficult to determine distinct treatment regimens employed for the various clinical phases of the disease. Unsurprisingly, determining the efficacy of currently available medications and developing novel therapeutic strategies have been a process of trial and error. The global scientific community collaborated to research and develop vaccines at a neck-breaking speed. This review summarises the overall picture of the COVID-19 pandemic, different mutations in SARS-CoV-2, immune response, and the treatment modalities against SARS-CoV-2.
在过去的几年中,严重急性呼吸系统综合症冠状病毒 2 型(SARS-CoV-2)引发了一场全球性的公共卫生灾难,对人类身心健康、全球经济和社会政治动态都产生了重大影响。SARS-CoV-2 是一种呼吸道病原体,也是持续的 COVID-19 大流行的原因,这表明人类对大流行毫无准备。科学家和政策制定者在开发理想的治疗剂和疫苗的同时,继续面临着解码 SARS-CoV-2 的病理学和免疫学的挑战。大流行早期面临的挑战包括快速开发诊断检测、疫苗和治疗剂。COVID-19 的持续传播伴随着病毒变异的出现,这些变异在传播效率、毒力和疫苗敏感性方面存在差异,从而使大流行的传播更加复杂。我们对人类免疫系统如何应对这些病毒以及经常更容易患重病的患者群体(如老年人和免疫功能低下者)的理解都得益于这场疫情。COVID-19 在感染的不同阶段会引起不同的症状,因此很难确定用于疾病各个临床阶段的不同治疗方案。毫不奇怪,确定现有药物的疗效和开发新的治疗策略一直是一个反复试验的过程。全球科学界合作,以惊人的速度研究和开发疫苗。这篇综述总结了 COVID-19 大流行的全貌、SARS-CoV-2 的不同突变、免疫反应以及针对 SARS-CoV-2 的治疗方式。