Coronaviruses: the most dangerous pathogen of present era

Coronaviruses are the major group of viruses belonging to the Order Nidovirales. Four families- Coronoviridae, Arteriviridae, Mesoniviridae, and Roviviridae are included in this Order. All CoVs are pleomorphic RNA viruses characterized by club-like spikes that project from their surface. These viruses have unusually large RNA genome, with a unique replication strategy. CoVs were not considered as highly pathogenic for humans until the emergence of SARS-CoV in 2002-03 in China. The emergence of another highly pathogenic CoV, Middle East Respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV) in the Middle East Countries confirmed the occurrence of highly pathogenic human viruses among the Coronaviruses. In this article we provide a brief introduction to coronaviruses, mode of action, pathogenesis, current situation, prevention and control of COVID-19.

The first COVID-19 incidence in India: A lesson of struggle and survival

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, which originated in Wuhan, China, has now spread to more than 200 countries and administrative regions infecting 3,09,04,45 individuals of all ages as of 3rd April, 2020. Though most of the infected individuals exhibit mild symptoms including fever, upper respiratory tract infections, shortness of breath and diarrhea or are asymptomatic altogether. Severe cases of infection can lead to pneumonia, multiple organ failure and death. Globally, at least 2, 07,973 deaths have been directly attributed to COVID-19 and this number is expected to rise with the ongoing epidemic. WHO declared the outbreak to be a public health Emergency of International concern on January 30, 2020. The same day, a laboratory confirmed case of COVID-19 was reported in Kerala. That was the first reported case of COVID-19 in India. Since then 498 disease cases were reported in Kerala, while in India this has gone up to 33,050 with 1,074 deaths. During the first phase of the COVID-19 outbreak in Kerala, the health authorities have responded in a stellar manner. Kerala has not only traced hundreds of contacts of the confirmed cases and notified them to the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) for monitoring, but also used unique community-based isolation methods, innovated while dealing with the Nipah virus outbreaks of 2018 and 2019. The model of monitoring with the District Collector as the administrative unit has been shared as a best practice with all states. © 2020 Indian Society for Malaria and Communicable Diseases. All rights reserved.