Assignment On
Global Pandemic: Corona Virus
Submitted to: Ms. Nusrat Hossain
Lecturer
Department OF Pharmaceutical Sciences
North-South University
Submitted By: Fuad Hasan Pranto
ID:1921147049
Course: PHR110, Section 4
Date of Submission 18 May 2020
Global Pandemic: Corona Virus
What is Coronavirus?
Coronavirus is an RNA virus that contains spherical
enveloped particles associated with a capsid made up of matrix
protein. The envelope holds club-shaped glycoprotein projections. These glycoproteins are
responsible for attachment to the host cell and also carry the main antigenic epitopes.
There are hundreds of coronaviruses. Currently, we know of four coronaviruses that commonly
spread between humans, and they cause what we usually would be called a cold, a mild upper
respiratory tract infection. Some of those can develop into something like Pneumonia. But three
new coronaviruses have recently jumped from the animal host to humans. They are:
1 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)-First emerged in 2003 from animals to people.
It caused a very severe disease, but it wasn't spread easily
2 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MARS)-First emerged in 2012. That virus jumped from
camel to people. A very severe disease to people but not spread easily spread from people to
people
3 COVID-19(Corona Virus Disease 2019)-That virus emerged in late 2019 from animals
(probably from the bat). It was first recognized at Wuhan, a city in China. Which is caused by
SARS COV-2. Genetical Sequencing of this virus shows a similarity with SARS Virus 1. Now it
turned into a current global pandemic. Almost 4,669,975(till 16 May 2020) people already
affected by this virus and 310,002(till 16 May 2020) deaths and more counting.
Symptoms Of COVID-19: Since it is a new disease, so all the symptoms are not
known by all. When it was first detected in China, it showed only a few symptoms, but day by
day, there are new symptoms are arising. After 2-14 days of exposure to the virus, symptoms
may show. People with these symptoms may have COVID-19
o Fever (83–99%)
o Non-Productive Cough (59–82%)
o Shortness of breath (31–40%)
o Sputum production (28–33%)
o Anorexia (40–84%)
o Myalgia (11–35%)
There are some other less common symptoms reported like Nausea, Vomiting, and Diarrhea.
Many patients with COVID-19 have mild to moderate symptoms. This virus can cause many
medical problems in some people and lead to death. These complications can include:
Pneumonia
Organ failure
Cardiac problems
Blood clots
Acute kidney injury
Additional viral and bacterial infections
Precaution
1. Avoiding any types of social gathering
2. Try to stay home as much as possible and keep a distance of about 6 feet
when we are in a public place
3. Covering face with face shield or clothes in a public place like the fish
market
4. Avoid touching eyes, nose, mouth
5. Disinfecting most used materials, such as door buckles, light switches,
appliances, and cabinets, every day
6. Cleaning hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and water, or use a hand
sanitizer based on alcohol that contains at least 70 percent alcohol.
7. Try to develop Work from Home culture.
8. Dishes, glasses, bedding, and other household items should be avoided in
this situation
9. Try to issue certified musk-like N-95, K-N95 ETC
10. In coughing or sneezing time, cover mouth and nose with a forearm or a
tissue. Throw away the tissue which was used.
Testing: There are mainly 2 types of COVID-19 testing
PCR Testing- The most common test during COVID-19 all over the
world. PCR tests are utilized to straightforwardly identify the nearness of
an antigen, as opposed to the nearness of the body's resistant reaction, or
antibodies. This test is also known as a viral test. These can be done by
many methods like
Swab Test
Nasal aspirate
Tracheal aspirate
Sputum Test
Blood test (mostly used)
Antibody Test: Antibody tests recognize who were effected with COVID
19 before. They don't show who is now presently affected by this virus.
This test can be used for identifying how many were affected in a
population.
Treatment and Research:
Treatment- This disease is totally new, so there is no
actual treatment at all. All treatments are mainly symptomatic. But we can divide
COVID-19 patients by following categories.
1 Asymptomatic Infection- Persons who show positive for COVID-19
and are asymptomatic should isolate themselves
2 Mild Illness- Patients may have mild disease that is characterized by some of the signs and
symptoms (e.g., fever, dry cough, sore throat, malaise, headache, pain in the muscles) with no
decrease of breath or dyspnea or abnormal imaging.
These types of a patient can be treated in an outpatient environment or by telemedicine or remote
visits
3 Moderate Illness- Moderate COVID-19 disease is characterized by clinical examination as
evidence of a lower respiratory disease or Imaging of SpO2 > 93 percent at sea level in room air.
These types of patients will require hospitalization
4 Severe Illness These patients may encounter quick clinical crumbling and will probably need
to experience aerosol-generating procedures
5 Critical Illness Patients with this type of Illness are probably going to experience airborne
creating systems, AIIRs is needed for this type of patients
Antiviral Therapy: Based on the primary clinical data panel recommends antiviral drug
REMDISIVIR for the medication of severe patients. It gets FDA emergency use authorization.
Some countries are using AVIGAN as antiviral therapy.
Research: In this pandemic situation, when we all are suffering from uncertainty, some
diligent, talented researcher are working to develop a vaccine. All of these vaccines
ChAdOx1nCoV-2 which is developed by Sara Catherine Gilbert (Professor of Vaccinology,
University OF Oxford) shows a promising result in the Phase-1 clinical trial. There are also
many vaccines those are all in the clinical trial. Some of them are
Vaccine Name Lead Developer Status
mRNA-1273 Moderna Phase 1
Ad5-nCoV CanSino Biologicals Phase 1
INO-4800 Inovio Pharmaceuticals Phase 1
LV-SMENP-DC Shenzhen Geno-Immune Phase 1
Medical Institute
Pathogen-specific aAPC Shenzhen Geno-Immune Phase 1
Medical Institute
Source: Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 19, 305-
306 (2020)
Personal Experience It was 16th march 2020, we have no exam till 18th, so all of our
friends came to NSU to celebrate one of our friend's birthday party. Before this party, we all
knew about the news that due to COVID-19 all educational Institutions will remain close till 31
March. We all were very happy about this news. But the situation changed. Day by day,
lockdown increased, and we all packed up in the home.
This lockdown gave a whole experience, which I never ever experienced. This lockdown
changed my daily doings totally. I used to get out every day, eating in restaurants, hang out with
friends, and to pass a huge time in NSU. But they all got stacked now in a house. In a positive
sense, this lockdown helped us to increase the family bond. Due to everyday class, we don't get
enough time for our family, but now a day's things got changed, we pass a tremendous time with
family members. Our family bonding got stronger, and we share things which not generally share
with our family before. Now Family time is a must in daily routine in this lockdown. Another
great experience is "Work from Home" habit. My University started online classes, which gave
me a whole new experience of learning. I know in this time we all are suffering from uncertainty,
depression but after all these things, I think these classes help me to remove boredom because in
this lockdown, there is nothing to do by doing the same things like using social media, watching
Netflix and repeat. But locked in a home for many days and every day knowing about thousands
of deaths, I feel mental pressure. For this reason, I stopped seeing the news. I live in Mirpur,
which is one of the red zones for community transmission, so it is quite dangerous for us to go
out for any type of emergency need. Even if we have to draw money from the ATM booth, we
have to think many times that it is safe or not, and it is more dangerous because most of the
people are not maintaining lockdown properly. Lastly, I think in this lockdown most enjoyable
thing is fresh air, which is quite impossible to think in a mega city like Dhaka
Reference: 1 COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-
19) Treatment Guidelines. National Institutes of
Health. Available at https://covid19treatmentguidelines.nih.gov/. Accessed [18 May 18, 2020].
2 WHO reference number: WHO/2019-nCoV/Clinical/2020.4
3: Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 19, 305-306 (2020)
4 JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY (https://www.jhu.edu/)
5 Centers for disease control and prevention (cdc.gov)
6 https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
