Current Status of Epidemiology, Diagnosis, Therapeutics, and Vaccines for Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

• Published in: Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol. 30; no. 3; pp. 313 - 324
• Main Authors: Ahn, Dae-Gyun, Shin, Hye-Jin, Kim, Mi-Hwa, Lee, Sunhee, Kim, Hae-Soo, Myoung, Jinjong, Kim, Bum-Tae, Kim, Seong-Jun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korea (South) Korean Society for Microbiology and Biotechnology 28.03.2020; 한국미생물·생명공학회
• Subjects: Betacoronavirus - immunology; Clinical Laboratory Techniques; Coronavirus Infections - diagnosis; Coronavirus Infections - drug therapy; Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology; Coronavirus Infections - immunology; Coronavirus Infections - prevention & control; Coronavirus Infections - therapy; COVID-19; COVID-19 Drug Treatment; COVID-19 Testing; COVID-19 Vaccines; Humans; Pandemics; Pneumonia, Viral - diagnosis; Pneumonia, Viral - epidemiology; Pneumonia, Viral - immunology; Pneumonia, Viral - therapy; Review; SARS-CoV-2; Viral Vaccines; 생물학; COVID-19; coronavirus; outbreak; SARS-CoV-2; 2019-nCoV
• ISSN: 1017-7825; 1738-8872; 1738-8872
• DOI: 10.4014/jmb.2003.03011

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which causes serious respiratory illness such as pneumonia and lung failure, was first reported in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei, China. The etiological agent of COVID-19 has been confirmed as a novel coronavirus, now known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which is most likely originated from zoonotic coronaviruses, like SARS-CoV, which emerged in 2002. Within a few months of the first report, SARS-CoV-2 had spread across China and worldwide, reaching a pandemic level. As COVID-19 has triggered enormous human casualties and serious economic loss posing global threat, an understanding of the ongoing situation and the development of strategies to contain the virus's spread are urgently needed. Currently, various diagnostic kits to test for COVID-19 are available and several repurposing therapeutics for COVID-19 have shown to be clinically effective. In addition, global institutions and companies have begun to develop vaccines for the prevention of COVID-19. Here, we review the current status of epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, and vaccine development for COVID-19.