An Immunological Outlook on SARS Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and Its Current Clinical Status

Abstract

The SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) originated in China in 2019 and rapidly spread across the globe for which the World Health Organization (WHO) declared it as a pandemic on March 11, 2020. This viral disease is extremely contagious and infectious in nature and the general symptoms include fever, cough and pneumonia followed by a loss of taste, diarrhoea, shortness of breath, acute respiratory distress syndrome and even death. The disease has caused unprecedented risk against the global fitness scenario and therefore have altered the socio-economic-political structure of society. There has been no reported cases of any immunity against the virus, however immune-compromised people are extremely vulnerable to this disease.  The diagnosis of the disease is usually done by quantitative Real-time PCR but other methods of detection like serological testing is gaining prominence these days.  Approaches are directed towards the development of vaccine candidates and a search is on towards the discovery of potential drugs. Needless to say, the genome architecture of the virus and the viral proteins mounting an immune response play a key role in the development of effective therapeutic strategies. The review article presents an overview of the science behind the pandemic along with the structural chemistry of the pathogen, the prognosis and the vaccine candidates in different stages of development. The review would be beneficial to the scientific fraternity and the common men at large in understanding the central role of the immune system towards the development of successful clinical strategies for diagnosis and therapy to avoid the future encounters by the virus.