scholarly journals Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Control between Drug Repurposing and Vaccination: A Comprehensive Overview

Vaccines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 1317
Author(s):  
Ahmed A. Al-Karmalawy ◽  
Raya Soltane ◽  
Ayman Abo Elmaaty ◽  
Mohamed A. Tantawy ◽  
Samar A. Antar ◽  
...  

Respiratory viruses represent a major public health concern, as they are highly mutated, resulting in new strains emerging with high pathogenicity. Currently, the world is suffering from the newly evolving severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This virus is the cause of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a mild-to-severe respiratory tract infection with frequent ability to give rise to fatal pneumonia in humans. The overwhelming outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 continues to unfold all over the world, urging scientists to put an end to this global pandemic through biological and pharmaceutical interventions. Currently, there is no specific treatment option that is capable of COVID-19 pandemic eradication, so several repurposed drugs and newly conditionally approved vaccines are in use and heavily applied to control the COVID-19 pandemic. The emergence of new variants of the virus that partially or totally escape from the immune response elicited by the approved vaccines requires continuous monitoring of the emerging variants to update the content of the developed vaccines or modify them totally to match the new variants. Herein, we discuss the potential therapeutic and prophylactic interventions including repurposed drugs and the newly developed/approved vaccines, highlighting the impact of virus evolution on the immune evasion of the virus from currently licensed vaccines for COVID-19.

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-146
Author(s):  
Md Asaduzzaman Miah

The coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) has been caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) that declared as an global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO).1,2 This ongoing pandemic causes devastation across the world while multiple countries have been facing with another outbreak- Dengue, a known tropical disease.3 Dengue is the most rapidly spreading mosquito-borne viral infection, also considered as a major public health concern. During COVID-19 pandemic, the increasing incidence of dengue become a further threat especially in the dengue-endemic countries of Southeast Asia and Latin America.4 The global burden of dengue is dynamic,  estimated 50 million real cases per year  across  approximately 100 countries.5 Currently, most of the countries are fighting against COVID-19, therefore, further outbreak of dengue has been posed a number of practical challenges to combat the diseases simultaneously. As dengue cases have been increased during Covid-19 pandemic, both SARS‑CoV‑2 and dengue viruses are co-existing and co-circulating in the environment. Consequently, patients with SARS‑CoV‑2 and dengue co-infection has been reported recently in several countries like Singapore, Thailand, India, and Bangladesh.6-9 Hence, it is speculated that the co-infection cases will be increased and found in another countries in the upcoming days when dengue season goes in its peak. Currently, multiple countries in South America like Brazil, Paraguay, Colombia, Argentina, Bolivia are suffering seriously from co-epidemics of dengue and Covid-19.4 Bangladesh Med Res Counc Bull 2020; 46(2): 145-146


2021 ◽  
Vol 104 (2) ◽  
pp. 003685042110198
Author(s):  
Helen Onyeaka ◽  
Christian K Anumudu ◽  
Zainab T Al-Sharify ◽  
Esther Egele-Godswill ◽  
Paul Mbaegbu

COVID-19, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on the 11th of March 2020, leading to some form of lockdown across almost all countries of the world. The extent of the global pandemic due to COVID-19 has a significant impact on our lives that must be studied carefully to combat it. This study highlights the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown on crucial aspects of daily life globally, including; Food security, Global economy, Education, Tourism, hospitality, sports and leisure, Gender Relation, Domestic Violence/Abuse, Mental Health and Environmental air pollution through a systematic search of the literature. The COVID-19 global lockdown was initiated to stem the spread of the virus and ‘flatten the curve’ of the pandemic. However, the impact of the lockdown has had far-reaching effects in different strata of life, including; changes in the accessibility and structure of education delivery to students, food insecurity as a result of unavailability and fluctuation in prices, the depression of the global economy, increase in mental health challenges, wellbeing and quality of life amongst others. This review article highlights the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown across the globe. As the global lockdown is being lifted in a phased manner in various countries of the world, it is necessary to explore its impacts to understand its consequences comprehensively. This will guide future decisions that will be made in a possible future wave of the COVID-19 pandemic or other global disease outbreak.


Author(s):  
Suchita Sachin Palve ◽  
Pallavi Sachin Chaudhari

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has put global health at stake by creating havoc all over the world, due to which the world, as well as health agencies, are experiencing the greatest challenges. This disease is a health emergency due to its high level of infectiousness and the non-availability of any specific treatment [1]. Objectives: To determine and compare the significance of physiological and haematological parameters in the diagnosis of COVID 19 infection and compare the association of physiological and haematological parameters among mild and severe COVID-19 patients. Methodology: The present comparative, observational study was carried out in a designated tertiary care hospital, where admission of COVID19 patients in Pune district, India. Various parameters like age, height, weight, BMI, various physiological variables, haematological parameters, and CRP levels were assessed among 202 Mild and 50 severe COVID 19 diagnosed patients on day one of the hospital's stays. Results: Pearson’s correlation coefficient showed a significant correlation among physiological and haematological variables compared to both groups, especially physiological parameters like SBP and DBP. The results showed that TLC, CRP, NLR, PLR, among COVID 19 patients cans work as important biomarkers to understand the disease prognosis. Conclusion: Study of physiological and haematological parameters and their interrelation will help in understanding the impact of COVID 19 infection on the reactive inflammatory responses and help in understanding the prognosis of the disease among mild and severe patients.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meenakshi Bansal ◽  
Charu Upadhyay ◽  
Poonam Singh ◽  
Sumit Kumar ◽  
Brijesh Rathi

Malaria remains as one of the most life-threatening diseases and thus major public health concern all around the world. The disease becomes devastating if not treated with proper medication on...


Author(s):  
Clare Lade ◽  
Paul Strickland ◽  
Elspeth Frew ◽  
Paul Willard ◽  
Sandra Cherro Osorio ◽  
...  

This chapter examines the ways in which teaching and training in tourism, hospitality and events have evolved and adapted to the contemporary demands of academia and industry. It explores the development of education in tourism, hospitality and events, the contemporary factors which influence teaching and learning, and discusses the rise of Massive Open Online Courses with a particular focus on their potential application within tourism, hospitality and events curriculum. The chapter concludes by providing an overview of Open Badges and their importance in education. At the time of writing, the world has been confronted by the Covid-19 global pandemic which has caused great disruption at all levels. The impact of Covid-19 is briefly addressed in this chapter as the enforcement of social distancing measures has led to a significant increase globally in online education.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajeesh Kumar N.V. ◽  
Arun M. ◽  
Baraneetharan E. ◽  
Stanly Jaya Prakash J. ◽  
Kanchana A. ◽  
...  

Purpose Many investigations are going on in monitoring, contact tracing, predicting and diagnosing the COVID-19 disease and many virologists are urgently seeking to create a vaccine as early as possible. Even though there is no specific treatment for the pandemic disease, the world is now struggling to control the spread by implementing the lockdown worldwide and giving awareness to the people to wear masks and use sanitizers. The new technologies, including the Internet of things (IoT), are gaining global attention towards the increasing technical support in health-care systems, particularly in predicting, detecting, preventing and monitoring of most of the infectious diseases. Similarly, it also helps in fighting against COVID-19 by monitoring, contract tracing and detecting the COVID-19 pandemic by connection with the IoT-based smart solutions. IoT is the interconnected Web of smart devices, sensors, actuators and data, which are collected in the raw form and transmitted through the internet. The purpose of this paper is to propose the concept to detect and monitor the asymptotic patients using IoT-based sensors. Design/methodology/approach In recent days, the surge of the COVID-19 contagion has infected all over the world and it has ruined our day-to-day life. The extraordinary eruption of this pandemic virus placed the World Health Organization (WHO) in a hazardous position. The impact of this contagious virus and scarcity among the people has forced the world to get into complete lockdown, as the number of laboratory-confirmed cases is increasing in millions all over the world as per the records of the government. Findings COVID-19 patients are either symptomatic or asymptotic. Symptomatic patients have symptoms such as fever, cough and difficulty in breathing. But patients are also asymptotic, which is very difficult to detect and monitor by isolating them. Originality/value Asymptotic patients are very hazardous because without knowing that they are infected, they might spread the infection to others, also asymptotic patients might be having very serious lung damage. So, earlier prediction and monitoring of asymptotic patients are mandatory to save their life and prevent them from spreading.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nurshad Ali ◽  
Farjana Islam

The outbreak of COVID-19 has created a serious public health concern worldwide. Although, most of the regions around the globe have been affected by COVID-19 infections; some regions are more badly affected in terms of infections and fatality rates than others. The exact reasons for such variations are not clear yet. This review discussed the possible effects of air pollution on COVID-19 infections and mortality based on some recent evidence. The findings of most studies reviewed here demonstrate that both short-term and long-term exposure to air pollution especially PM2.5 and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) may contribute significantly to higher rates of COVID-19 infections and mortalities with a lesser extent also PM10. A significant correlation has been found between air pollution and COVID-19 infections and mortality in some countries in the world. The available data also indicate that exposure to air pollution may influence COVID-19 transmission. Moreover, exposure to air pollution may increase vulnerability and have harmful effects on the prognosis of patients affected by COVID-19 infections. Further research should be conducted considering some potential confounders such as age and pre-existing medical conditions along with exposure to NO2, PM2.5 and other air pollutants to confirm their detrimental effects on mortalities from COVID-19.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahmudul Hasan ◽  
Md Sorwer Alam Parvez ◽  
Kazi Faizul Azim ◽  
Abdus Shukur Imran ◽  
Topu Raihan ◽  
...  

<div>The world is facing an unprecedented global pandemic caused by the novel SARS-CoV-2. In the absence</div><div>of a specific therapeutic agent to treat COVID-19 patients, the present study aimed to virtually screen out</div><div>the effective drug candidates from the approved main protease protein (MPP) inhibitors and their</div><div>derivatives for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2. Here, drug repurposing and molecular docking were</div><div>employed to screen approved MPP inhibitors and their derivatives. The approved MPP inhibitors against</div><div>HIV and HCV were prioritized, whilst hydroxychloroquine, favipiravir, remdesivir, and alpha-ketoamide</div><div>were studied as control. The target drug surface hotspot was also investigated through the molecular</div><div>docking technique. ADME analysis was conducted to understand the pharmacokinetics and drug-likeness</div><div>of the screened MPP inhibitors. The result of this study revealed that Paritaprevir (-10.9 kcal/mol), and its</div><div>analog (CID 131982844)(-16.3 kcal/mol) showed better binding affinity than the approved MPP inhibitor</div><div>compared in this study including favipiravir, remdesivir, and alpha-ketoamide. A comparative study among</div><div>the screened putative MPP inhibitors revealed that amino acids T25, T26, H41, M49, L141, N142, G143,</div><div>C145, H164, M165, E166, D187, R188, and Q189 are at critical positions for becoming the surface hotspot</div><div>in the MPP of SARS-CoV-2. The study also suggested that paritaprevir and its' analog (CID 131982844),</div><div>may be effective against SARS-CoV-2 as these molecules had the common drug-surface hotspots on the</div><div>main protease protein of SARS-CoV-2. Other pharmacokinetic parameters also indicate that paritaprevir</div><div>and its top analog (CID 131982844) will be either similar or better-repurposed drugs than already approved</div><div>MPP inhibitors. </div><div><br></div>


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 251-260
Author(s):  
Maryam Adli ◽  
Amama Saleem ◽  
Tamima Saleem ◽  
Hawa Adli ◽  
Maria Adli

The World Health Organization stated COVID-19 a global pandemic, it has quickly spread all over the world, posing immense health, environmental and social challenges to the global population. The coronavirus outbreak is critically interrupting the global trade and has shattered the core sustaining pillars of the modern world economies. Concerns have been raised about policy changes, enforcement actions, immigrant detention, and deportation practices during the outbreak. The impact of COVID-19 on these trends implies new dimensions for global governance and organizations. This article seeks to highlight Azerbaijan's problems in the context of the battle against a pandemic. Because a country's economy has been impacted, a comprehensive study may give a better understanding of the results, illuminating the areas that require more assistance and growth.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Cuschieri ◽  
Julian Mamo

Abstract Background Depression is a chronic non communicable disease. It is a growing public health concern with established links with a number of co-morbidities, including diabetes mellitus. The study aimed to estimate the prevalence of depression at a population level, establish the depression sub-population phenotypic characteristics while exploring for links between depression and a spectrum of glycemic abnormalities. Methods A nationally representative cross-sectional study was conducted in Malta between 2014 and 2016. Participants were categorized into different sub-populations according to their glycaemic status. Depression prevalence rates and phenotypic characteristics for each sub-population were established. Multiple regression analysis was performed to identify links with depression. Results Depression was prevalent in 17.15% (CI 95%: 16.01 – 18.36) with a female predominance. Those with known (as opposed to newly diagnosed) diabetes had the highest depression prevalence when compared to other glycemic sub-groups. These also exhibited a significant link with self-reported depression. However, at a population level, depression was mostly prevalent within the normoglycaemic sub-population. Conclusions The study confirms the strong link between diabetes and depression, especially, in a high risk dysglycaemic population. Of public health concern is the high depression occurrence within the normoglycaemic sub-population, which attributed for the majority of the Maltese population. In order to reduce the impact of mental health on the population, physicians may consider implementing depression screening clinical tools as part of their routine health check-ups at primary care level, irrespective of the glycaemic status of their patients.


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