Nature and History of

Covid-19
• The COVID-19 pandemic, otherwise called the coronavirus
pandemic, is a progressing pandemic of coronavirus
infection 2019 (COVID‑19), brought about by serious
intense respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2).

• Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that can cause

illnesses such as the common cold, severe acute respiratory
syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome
(MERS). In 2019, a new coronavirus was identified as the
cause of a disease outbreak that originated in China.
• The episode was first recognized in Wuhan, China, in
December 2019. The World Health Organization
pronounced the flare-up a Public Health Emergency of
International Concern on 30 January, and a pandemic on
11 March.

• Globally, as of 23 June 2021, there have

been 178,837,204 confirmed cases of COVID-19,
including 3,880,450 deaths, reported to WHO. As of 22
June 2021, a total of 2,414,347,324 vaccine doses have
been administered. (WHO)
• Few data are available about microscopic
lesions and the pathophysiology of COVID‑19.
The main pathological findings at autopsy are:

Macroscopy: pleurisy, pericarditis, lung

consolidation and pulmonary edema
• The infection is essentially spread between people
during close contact, regularly by means of little
droplets delivered by coughing, sniffling, and talking.
The droplets generally tumble to the ground or onto
surfaces as opposed to going through air over long
distances.

• It is generally infectious during the initial three days

after the beginning of symptoms, even though spread
is conceivable before side effects show up, and from
individuals who don't show symptoms.
• Suggested preventive include hand washing, covering
one's mouth when coughing, maintaining distance
from other people, wearing a face mask in public
settings, and monitoring and self-isolation for
suspected people of infection.

• Outside the human body, the infection is eradicated by

household soap, which bursts its protective bubble.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYKypBqbTao&t=3s
Signs and Symptoms
• The standard incubation
period ranges from one to
14 days, and is most
ordinarily five days. Some
infected individuals have
no indications, known as
asymptomatic or pre
symptomatic carriers;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DGwOJXSxqg
• Side effects of COVID-19 can be generally vague;
the two most normal manifestations are fever (88
percent) and dry hack (68 percent). Less basic side
effects incorporate weakness, respiratory sputum
creation (mucus), loss of the sense of smell, loss of
taste, brevity of breath, muscle and joint torment,
sore throat, cerebral pain, chills, spewing, hacking
out blood, loose bowels, and rash.
VIROLOGY
• Coronaviruses are enveloped positive sense single-
stranded RNA viruses sized 80–220 nm in diameter.
The envelop bears crown-like, 20-nm in length spikes
that resemble corona of the sun under electron
microscopy, hence given its name coronavirus.

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navirus/
• The virus can cause disease both in animal and
human. It carries the largest genome among the
currently known RNA viruses. Early cases of
Covid-19 linked the virus was transmitted from
animals to human. SARS-CoV was first detected in
the Guangdong province of China in November
2002 and subsequently spread to 30 countries. It is
more severe than other corona virus infection.
• Whole genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 reveals that
it is a novel beta coronavirus distinct from SARS-Cov.

• The nucleotide sequence of SARS-CoV-2 showed 79.0%

and 51.8% identity with SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV,
respectively and it is closely related to bat-origin SARS-
like coronavirus with 87.6%–89% identity.
• The virus was initially called 2019-novel coronavirus
(2019-nCoV) upon its emergence, until
the Coronaviridae Study Group of International Committee
on Taxonomy of Viruses named the virus severe acute
respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) based
on the phylogenetic analysis, on February 11, 2020. On the
same day, the WHO named the disease caused by the novel
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), in alignment with
WHO best practices for naming of new human infectious
disease.
PHATOLOGY
Four types of severity of viral pneumonia can be observed:
Minor pneumonia: minor serous exudation, minor fibrin exudation
Mild pneumonia: pulmonary edema, pneumocystis hyperplasia,
large atypical pneumocystis, interstitial inflammation with
lymphocytic infiltration and multinucleated giant cell formation
Severe pneumonia: diffuse alveolar damage (DAD) with diffuse
alveolar exudates. DAD is the cause of acute respiratory distress
syndrome (ARDS) and severe hypoxemia.
Healing pneumonia: organization of exudates in alveolar cavities
and pulmonary interstitial fibrosis
Detecting COVID-19
As the coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 disease
spreads across the world, the IAEA, in partnership with the
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO), is offering its support and expertise to help
countries use real time reverse transcription–polymerase
chain reaction (real time RT–PCR), one of the most
accurate laboratory methods for detecting, tracking and
studying the COVID-19 coronavirus.
Real time RT–PCR is a nuclear-derived method for detecting
the presence of specific genetic material in any pathogen,
including a virus. Originally, the method used radioactive
isotope markers to detect targeted genetic materials, but
subsequent refining has led to the replacement of isotopic
labelling with special markers, most frequently fluorescent
dyes. This technique allows scientists to see the results almost
immediately while the process is still ongoing, whereas
conventional RT–PCR only provides results at the end of the
process.
Real time RT–PCR is one of the most widely used laboratory methods
for detecting the COVID-19 virus. While many countries have used real
time RT–PCR for diagnosing other diseases, such as Ebola virus and
Zika virus, many need support in adapting this method for the COVID-
19 virus, as well as in increasing their national testing capacities. Some
viruses such as the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), which causes COVID-
19, only contain RNA, which means that they rely on infiltrating healthy
cells to multiply and survive. Once inside the cell, the virus uses its own
genetic code — RNA in the case of the COVID-19 virus — to take
control of and ‘reprogramme’ the cells, turning them into virus-making
factories.
In order for a virus like the COVID-19 virus to be detected early in the body
using real time RT–PCR, scientists need to convert the RNA to DNA. This is
a process called ‘reverse transcription’. They do this because only DNA
can be copied — or amplified — which is a key part of the real time RT–
PCR process for detecting viruses. Scientists amplify a specific part of the
transcribed viral DNA hundreds of thousands of times. Amplification is
important so that, instead of trying to spot a minuscule amount of the virus
among millions of strands of genetic information, scientists have a large
enough quantity of the target sections of viral DNA to accurately confirm
that the virus is present.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gubLAtn2o4s
A sample is collected from the parts of the body where the COVID-19
virus gathers, such as a person’s nose or throat. The sample is treated
with several chemical solutions that remove substances such as proteins
and fats and that extract only the RNA present in the sample. This
extracted RNA is a mix of the person’s own genetic material and, if
present, the virus’s RNA.The RNA is reverse transcribed to DNA using
a specific enzyme. Scientists then add additional short fragments of
DNA that are complementary to specific parts of the transcribed viral
DNA. If the virus is present in a sample, these fragments attach
themselves to target sections of the viral DNA. Some of the added
genetic fragments are used for building DNA strands during
amplification, while the others are used for building the DNA and
adding marker labels to the strands, which are then used to detect the
virus.
The mixture is then placed in an RT–PCR machine. The machine
cycles through temperatures that heat and cools the mixture to
trigger specific chemical reactions that create new, identical copies
of the target sections of viral DNA. The cycle is repeated over and
over to continue copying the target sections of viral DNA. Each
cycle doubles the previous number: two copies become four, four
copies become eight, and so on. A standard real time RT–PCR set-
up usually goes through 35 cycles, which means that, by the end of
the process, around 35 billion new copies of the sections of viral
DNA are created from each strand of the virus present in the
sample.
As new copies of the viral DNA sections are built, the
marker labels attach to the DNA strands and then release
a fluorescent dye, which is measured by the machine’s
computer and presented in real time on the screen. The
computer tracks the amount of fluorescence in the
sample after each cycle. When a certain level of
fluorescence is surpassed, this confirms that the virus is
present. Scientists also monitor how many cycles it
takes to reach this level in order to estimate the severity
of the infection: the fewer the cycles, the more severe
the viral infection is.
Vaccine
A COVID‑19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired
immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus
2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease
2019 (COVID‑19). The COVID‑19 vaccines are widely celebrated
for their role in reducing the spread, severity, and death caused
by COVID-19.

Prior to the COVID‑19 pandemic, an established body of

knowledge existed about the structure and function
of coronaviruses causing diseases like severe acute respiratory
syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).
This knowledge accelerated the development of various vaccine
technologies during early 2020. On 10 January 2020, the SARS-
CoV-2 genetic sequence data was shared through GISAID, and by
19 March, the global pharmaceutical industry announced a
major commitment to address COVID-19.
In Phase III trials, several COVID‑19 vaccines have
demonstrated efficacy as high as 95% in preventing symptomatic
COVID‑19 infections. As of June 2021, 18 vaccines are authorized
by at least one national regulatory authority for public use:
two RNA vaccines (Pfizer–BioNTech and Moderna), nine
conventional inactivated vaccines (BBIBP-CorV, Chinese Academy
of Medical Sciences, CoronaVac, Covaxin, CoviVac, COVIran
Barakat, Minhai-Kangtai, QazVac, and WIBP-CorV), five viral
vector vaccines (Sputnik Light, Sputnik V, Oxford–
AstraZeneca, Convidecia, and Johnson & Johnson), and
two protein subunit vaccines (EpiVacCorona and RBD-Dimer).
 In total, as of March 2021, 308 vaccine candidates are in various
stages of development, with 73 in clinical research, including 24
in Phase I trials, 33 in Phase I–II trials, and 16 in Phase III
development.
Many countries have implemented phased
distribution plans that prioritize those at highest risk
of complications, such as the elderly, and those at high
risk of exposure and transmission, such as healthcare
workers. Single dose interim use is under
consideration to extend vaccination to as many people
as possible until vaccine availability improves.
As of 20 June 2021, 2.66 billion doses of COVID‑19 vaccine
have been administered worldwide based on official
reports from national health agencies.[AstraZeneca
anticipates producing 3 billion doses in 2021, Pfizer–
BioNTech 1.3 billion doses, and Sputnik V, Sinopharm,
Sinovac, and Johnson & Johnson 1 billion doses each.
Moderna targets producing 600 million doses and
Convidecia 500 million doses in 2021. By December 2020,
more than 10 billion vaccine doses had been preordered by
countries, with about half of the doses purchased by high-
income countries comprising 14% of the world's
population.
 Enjoy watching these yutube
Links about COVID-19
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1AQ5EXcJYc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1l6BchEoZM
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/qu
estion-and-answers-hub/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses?gclid=CjwKCAjw5v
z2BRAtEiwAbcVIL8msgOsZ2hIsTSu6zn6efTc_gAwNgcJErxpMGZ2-5F4liFvn
DwevlxoCPQAQAvD_BwE#:~:text=pet

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/symptoms-
causes/syc-20479963