ABSTRACT
Vaccines for the past 300 years have played a crucial role in curbing infectious diseases. The development of effective and safe vaccines has significantly reduced morbidity and mortality caused by infectious diseases. Moreover, recent advancements in vaccinology, immunology, microbiology, and genetic engineering have led to novel advancement in vaccine development. This advancement has been quite evident in the current COVID-19 pandemic, where the swift development and approval of vaccines has stopped the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Additionally, the COVID-19 vaccine has saved patients from severe complications and even death. Despite vaccines' recent advancements and advantages, it would be naïve to believe that vaccines cannot cause adverse reactions. Moreover, evidence suggests vaccines' involvement in developing inflammatory and autoimmune conditions through molecular mimicry, bystander activation, and cross-reactivity. Additionally, the adjuvants and preservatives added in the vaccine formulations may trigger an autoimmune response. As vaccines are administered to healthy individuals, in many cases to children, any adverse complications can have serious consequences. This chapter mainly focuses on mechanisms of vaccine induced autoimmunity, different vaccines reported for such autoimmune conditions, so that the existing knowledge could help in developing safe and effective vaccines. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022.
ABSTRACT
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the continuously evolving novel Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), has been a global health concern since the start of pandemic. Apart from other COVID-19 associated complications, emerging studies have suggested autoimmune manifestations following SARS-CoV-2. Additionally, autoantibodies have been detected in COVID-19 patients. COVID-19 can lead to autoimmune manifestations, through various mechanisms such as molecular mimicry, bystander activation, cytokine storm, generation of autoantibodies, and genetic susceptibility. Several autoimmune diseases like Guillain-Barre syndrome, immune thrombocytopenic purpura, autoimmune hemolytic anemia, autoimmune thyroid diseases, Kawasaki disease, and Alopecia areata have been linked with COVID-19. Additionally, autoimmune diseases have been linked with the increased risk of severe illness and mortality after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Therefore, understanding the pathophysiology of COVID-19 associated autoimmunity can aid in management and treatment of COVID-19. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022.
ABSTRACT
Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is an autoimmune disorder of the peripheral nervous system encompassing clinically heterogenous group of diseases such as acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (AIDP), acute motor axonal neuropathy (AMAN) and others. Genetic aetiology of GBS remains unknown till today but in most cases is often triggered by a preceding microbial infection or vaccine in few instances. Recent studies have suggested an association of GBS with recent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections;however, the underlying mechanism remains undetermined. Massive vaccination drives carried out in the world for COVID-19 disease have also raised few concerns on the overall risk-benefit ratio regarding the development of GBS following vaccination. Molecular mimicry is the most commonly accepted immunopathogenic mechanism in GBS for infections including SARS-CoV-2;however, they do not explain all the cases. Impairment in the gut-brain axis due to altered gut microbiota has been linked to various neurological disorders, and with the close connection of immune system with gut microbiome, the development of GBS following gastrointestinal infections can be explained. This can facilitate the development of microbiome-targeted therapies such as prebiotics and probiotics together with immunotherapy for GBS management. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022.
ABSTRACT
As the world has not fully recovered from the aftermath of COVID-19, a new pandemic appears on the horizon. Monkey Pox is emerging as a new threat to the health of the world population. With the recorded spread over 40 countries worldwide it might be soon declared a pandemic. Monkey Pox shares common features with chickenpox and measles making it difficult to diagnose. Developing a new test kit at this early stage is a challenging task for the medical fraternity. This paper proposes the use of deep learning models that can be used to make the process of diagnosis automated. This paper tries to come up with a performance comparison of ResNet50, EfficientNetB3 and EfficientNetB7 algorithms. This study suggests a method for early detection of Monkey Pox Skin Lesion. Though an extensive study with other models on a larger dataset containing more images from various countries of the world needs to be carried out but this study gives some promising results on this limited dataset. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
Novel technology has led to advanced approaches and understandings of viral biology, and the advent in previous years has raised the possibility of determination of mechanisms of viral replication and infection, trans-species adaption, and disease. The outbreak of Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) has become a global life-threatening concern recently. The war against COVID19 has now reached the most critical point, whereby it has caused worldwide social and economic disruption. Unfortunately, limited knowledge persists among the community regarding the biology of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The present review will summarize the basic life cycle and replication of the well-studied coronaviruses, identifying the unique characteristics of coronavirus biology and highlighting critical points where research has made significant advances that might represent targets for antivirals or vaccines. Areas where rapid progress has been made in SARS-CoV research have been highlighted. Additionally, an overview of the efforts dedicated to an effective vaccine for this novel coronavirus, particularly different generations of vaccines, which has crippled the world, has also been discussed. Areas of concern for research in coronavirus replication, genetics, and pathogenesis have been explained as well. Speedy evaluation of multiple approaches to elicit protective immunity and safety is essential to curtail unwanted immune potentiation, which plays an important role in the pathogenesis of this virus. Hope is to provide a glimpse into the current efforts, and the progress is made with reference to Coronaviruses and how the community can work together to prevent and control coronavirus infection now and in the future. Copyright © 2023 Bentham Science Publishers.
ABSTRACT
Novel corona virus disease (COVID-19), the causative agent of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2) has become a burning issue of 2020. The pandemic has brought the complete world to think about the solutions that can lead us to restart the journey of life in a normal way. Every country is trying all possible steps to combat the disease ranging from shutting the complete economy of the country to the repurposing of drugs and vaccine development. Manual dealing with the virus is a very tedious and highly sensitive issue that requires a high level of safety and every researcher is not sufficient enough to attain it. Regarding this situation, computational approaches have opened a new door for researchers and scientists to think against this deadly issue. The speedy data generation and its analysis through different basic to advance approaches, tools, software, and databases have made bioinformatics capable of giving new insights to the researchers to deal with the current scenario more efficiently. From understanding the underlying mechanism of the virus to the speedy discovery of therapeutic intervention, computational approaches play a significant role. Various Insilco pipelines from genomics and proteomics study, drug discovery, vaccine development, drug repurposing to system biology, network medicine, next-generation sequencing, and machine learning not only help in understanding the disease pathway and mechanism but also speed up the therapeutic process efficiently. The current review deals with the significance and usefulness of computational approaches in combating the corona pandemic. © 2021 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
The purpose of the study is to examine the impact of lockdown on the psychological, social, cultural and economic levels. The study has also disseminated information regarding corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities undertaken by the corporates during COVID-19. The spread of the virus poses a serious threat to various countries across the globe. All the sections of the people in the society are affected due to lockdown imposed by the government for breaking the chain of the spread of COVID-19. The people faced a lot of hardships due to the imposition of lockdown in India. In this context, many corporates have come forward to support government initiatives towards fighting COVID-19. They provide financial assistance in the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund) and contributing in different ways to fight the virus. CSR activities include engaging in the manufacturing and distribution of masks, sanitisers, and personal protective equipments (PPEs), providing meals to the downtrodden and making arrangements for the quarantine centres, etc.