COVID-19: A systematic review and update on prevention, diagnosis, and treatment

Abstract

Since the rapid onset of the COVID-19 or SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in the world in 2019, extensive studies have been conducted to unveil the behavior and emission pattern of the virus in order to determine the best ways to diagnosis of virus and thereof formulate effective drugs or vaccines to combat the disease. The emergence of novel diagnostic and therapeutic techniques considering the multiplicity of reports from one side and contradictions in assessments from the other side necessitates instantaneous updates on the progress of clinical investigations. There is also growing public anxiety from time to time mutation of COVID-19, as reflected in considerable mortality and transmission, respectively, from delta and Omicron variants. We comprehensively review and summarize different aspects of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of COVID-19. First, biological characteristics of COVID-19 were explained from diagnosis standpoint. Thereafter, the preclinical animal models of COVID-19 were discussed to frame the symptoms and clinical effects of COVID-19 from patient to patient with treatment strategies and in-silico/computational biology. Finally, the opportunities and challenges of nanoscience/nanotechnology in identification, diagnosis, and treatment of COVID-19 were discussed. This review covers almost all SARS-CoV-2-related topics extensively to deepen the understanding of the latest achievements (last updated on January 11, 2022).

Keywords: COVID‐19; SARS‐CoV‐2; biomaterials; coronavirus; nanotechnology; pandemic.

FIGURE 1

An overview of the biological properties of COVID‐19. The figure is created with BioRender.com

FIGURE 2

An overview of the COVID‐19 detection methods

FIGURE 3

Antiviral drugs against COVID‐19

FIGURE 4

Nanotechnology applications in various stages of confronting coronaviruses

FIGURE 5

The proposed mechanism to prevent the spread of the COVID‐19 on surfaces through nanocoatings (reproduced from ref. with permission from Elsevier)

FIGURE 6

Schematic illustration of: (A) COVID‐19 side effect in lung host cells (the virus amplifies viral replications by inducing overproduction of mitochondrial ROS); (B) the COVID‐19 ROS diagnosis system (consists of three needle electrodes coated by functionalized MWCNTs); (C) electrochemical reaction and cyclic voltammetry cathodic peaks from two different patients; (D and E) the CT‐scan of the patient showed more distinctive hazy patches; (F) a normal candidate lung CT‐scan (reproduced from ref. with permission from Elsevier)