COVID-19 Pandemic: A Comprehensive Overview of Epidemiological, Pathogenesis, Diagnostic Aspects and Therapeutic Interventions to Tackle Current Outbreak

Coronavirus disease 2019 has been declared a pandemic globally by WHO after its first emergence in Wuhan city of China. The disease was observed to be caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection. Although a complete spectrum of clinical manifestations linked with COVID-19 is yet to be determined, on the basis of virus evolution and genomic recombination; SARS-CoV-2 is believed to be belonging to the Coronaviridae family with the zoonotic origin, exhibiting several symptoms in human patients ranging from being asymptomatic to severe illness, ultimately leading to high mortality rate. Different molecular, serological, and radiological techniques have been employed to detect SARS-CoV-2 infection. Epidemiological insights have revealed that the infection has threatened the health and economy of all the nations worldwide. Diverse pharmacological interventions are already under place to fight against the current pandemic, and a few of them have already been approved by FDA. Natural products and herbal medicine could also play a prominent role as an alternative therapeutic approach to fight against the current pandemic, and few of their clinical trials have already been registered. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a comprehensive overview of the origin, genomic diversity & evolution, epidemiology, pathogenesis, transmission, diagnosis, possible therapeutic approaches of COVID-19, and experiential learning to enhance our preparedness for upcoming but unknown outbreaks.

Keywords: Cathepsin, Chloroquine, COVID-19, Epidemiology, Favipiravir, HCoV, Helicase, Herbal Medicine, Interspecies Transmission, Methyl Transferase, mTOR, Pathogenesis, Phyto-Constituents, Plasma Therapy, PLpro, Radiology, RdRp, Remdesivir, RT-PCR, SARS-CoV-2, Serology, TMPRSS2, Zoonotic Origin.