Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2020 Nov 2;1(4):20200083.
doi: 10.1515/almed-2020-0083. eCollection 2020 Dec.

SARS-CoV-2: a new threat

[Article in English, Spanish, Spanish]
Affiliations
Review

SARS-CoV-2: a new threat

[Article in English, Spanish, Spanish]
Cristina A López Rodríguez et al. Adv Lab Med. .

Abstract

Background: The pandemic caused by the emergence of the new SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide has had a major impact at all levels and has forced in-depth research into its behavior, pathogenicity and treatment.

Content: This review provides an overview of various aspects of the virus and the immune response it triggers, as well as a description of the different diagnostic and therapeutic approaches adopted.

Summary: SARS-COV-2 is a RNA virus with some peculiarities that make it different from its predecessors SARS-CoV and MERS. Given its structural characteristics and pathogenesis, it can cause different clinical manifestations as the disease progresses. The immune system has been proven to play a major role in the response to this virus and, therefore, the study of antibodies and lymphocyte populations during the different stages of the disease is crucial.

Outlook: The knowledge of the effect of the virus and the immune response is crucial for the development of good quality vaccines, therapies and diagnostic techniques, which are essential for the control and eradication of the disease.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: Authors state no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:
Structure of SARS CoV-2. Adapted from Jin y et al. [3].
Figure 2:
Figure 2:
Kinetics of ARN and anti SARS-CoV-2 IgG, IgA and IgM antibodies across the different clinical stages of COVID19.

References

    1. Zhu N, Zhang D, Wang W, Li X, Yang B, Song J, et al. A novel coronavirus from patients with pneumonia in China, 2019. N Engl J Med. 2020;382:727–33. doi: 10.1056/nejmoa2001017. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Zheng J. SARS-CoV-2: an emerging coronavirus that causes a global threat. Int J Biol Sci. 2020;16:1678–85. doi: 10.7150/ijbs.45053. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jin Y, Yang H, Ji W, Wu W, Chen S, Zhang W, et al. Virology, epidemiology, pathogenesis, and control of COVID-19. Viruses. 2020;12:372. doi: 10.3390/v12040372. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tortorici MA, Veesler D. Structural insights into coronavirus entry. Adv Virus Res. 2019;105:93–116. doi: 10.1016/bs.aivir.2019.08.002. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Zhou P, Yang XL, Wang XG, Hu B, Zhang B, Zhang W, et al. A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin. Nature. 2020;579:270–3. doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2012-7. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources