Anakinra for patients with COVID-19

A rapid review of recent advances in diagnosis, treatment and vaccination for COVID-19

COVID-19 is caused by SARS-CoV-2, which originated in Wuhan, Hubei province, Central China, in December 2019 and since then has spread rapidly, resulting in a severe pandemic. The infected patient presents with varying non-specific symptoms requiring an accurate and rapid diagnostic tool to detect SARS-CoV-2. This is followed by effective patient isolation and early treatment initiation ranging from supportive therapy to specific drugs such as corticosteroids, antiviral agents, antibiotics, and the recently introduced convalescent plasma. The development of an efficient vaccine has been an on-going challenge by various nations and research companies. A literature search was conducted in early December 2020 in all the major databases such as Medline/PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar search engines. The findings are discussed in three main thematic areas namely diagnostic approaches, therapeutic options, and potential vaccines in various phases of development. Therefore, an effective and economical vaccine remains the only retort to combat COVID-19 successfully to save millions of lives during this pandemic. However, there is a great scope for further research in discovering cost-effective and safer therapeutics, vaccines and strategies to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 prevention and treatment services.

Novel corona virus (COVID-19) pandemic: current status and possible strategies for detection and treatment of the disease

INTRODUCTION

In December 2019, a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak occurred and caused the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19), which affected ~ 190 countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared COVID-19 a pandemic on 11 March 2020.

AREA COVERED

In the review, a comprehensive analysis of the recent developments of the COVID-19 pandemic has been provided, including the structural characterization of the virus, the current worldwide status of the disease, various detection strategies, drugs recommended for the effective treatment, and progress of vaccine development programs by different countries. This report was constructed by following a systematic literature search of bibliographic databases of published reports of relevance until 1 September 2020.

EXPERT OPINION

Currently, the countries are opening businesses despite a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases. The pharmaceutical industries are developing clinical diagnostic kits, medicines, and vaccines. They target different approaches, including repurposing the already approved diagnosis and treatment options for similar CoVs. At present, over ~200 vaccine candidates are being developed against COVID-19. Future research may unravel the genetic variations or polymorphisms that dictate these differences in susceptibilities to the disease.