ImmunoTargets and Therapy (Jun 2020)
Assessing Immune Response to SARS-CoV-2 Infection
Abstract
Michael R Shurin,1,2 Alison Morris,3 Alan Wells,1 Sarah E Wheeler1 1Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; 2Department of Immunology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; 3Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USACorrespondence: Michael R Shurin Email [email protected] the XXI century, we have already witnessed the global spread of three previously unknown coronaviruses. In 2002, the first known case of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) occurred in China and SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV) was identified in 2003.1 Before SARS pandemic was declared to be over in summer of 2003, about 8500 cases were reported, including almost 900 deaths in 32 countries. Ten years later, in 2012, a novel coronavirus, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), was isolated and was proven to be associated with several clusters of cases, first in the Arabian Peninsula and then in other countries. As a result, almost 2500 cases including more than 850 deaths in 27 countries have been reported.2 In 2019, a novel β-coronavirus caused severe and even fatal pneumonia in Wuhan China, and rapidly spread to other provinces of China and other countries in 2020. The World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020, declared coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) a pandemic. By mid-May 2020, more than 300,000 people have died and over 4,000,000 have been infected by the coronavirus in almost 200 countries and territories worldwide.
