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. 2020 Jul:84:106519.
doi: 10.1016/j.intimp.2020.106519. Epub 2020 Apr 16.

SARS-Cov-2 infection: Response of human immune system and possible implications for the rapid test and treatment

Gabriella di Mauro  1 , Cristina Scavone  2 , Concetta Rafaniello  2 , Francesco Rossi  2 , Annalisa Capuano  2
Affiliations

SARS-Cov-2 infection: Response of human immune system and possible implications for the rapid test and treatment

Gabriella di Mauro et al. Int Immunopharmacol. 2020 Jul.

Abstract

The new coronavirus outbreak is an ongoing pandemic that is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The new coronavirus SARS-Cov-2 belongs to the subfamily of β-coronaviruses and shares 79.5% of the genetic sequence of SARS-CoV, the causative agent of the epidemic that started in 2002 and ended in 2004. Considering the clinical impact of the new outbreak, it is highly important to study the potential responses of the human immune system during the SARS-CoV-2 infection as well as the role of virus-specific T cells and by B-lymphocytes. Moreover, specific data on the production of IgG and IgM is crucial to allow the rapid identification of the infection. In this paper we also described the importance of sensitive and specific rapid test for SARS-CoV-2. Indeed, this test represents an important immunological tool aimed at identifying the precise phase of the infection in order to undertake a more appropriate pharmacological treatment. Lastly, we provided an overview of pharmacological treatments aimed to reduce inflammatory processes underlying the infection and the need for the discovery of a new vaccine against SARS-CoV-2.

Keywords: Human immune system; Outbreak; Pharmacological treatments; Rapid test; SARS-Cov-2 infection.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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