Can Our Past Help Us in the Future? Connection of SARS to COVID-19

Beginning January 2020, a new novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), formally known to the public as COVID-19 has been officially declared by the World Health Organization as a pandemic1. This viral disease known to be subsequently spread from its originating hearth of Wuhan, China has caused widespread panic and fear to millions of people across the world. While this novel coronavirus is known to severely impact the lives of a certain demographic or those who contain underlying diseases, the number COVID-19 cases continue to climb as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the global number of cases surpassed a milestone of 2 million2. As the number of these COVID-19 cases continues to exponentially rise, many health care providers are unsure of how much the health care system can hold before it reaches its capacity. How are Scientists Trying to Contain the Pandemic? Many scientists and researchers are working together to produce a vaccine that carries antibodies to the COVID-19 crisis. Currently, clinical trials are being performed through the use of Remdesivir, one of the first medicines identified to target the SARS-CoV-2 strain3. An early peek of data suggests patients are responding fairly to the treatment however the medicine once approved successfully by the University of Chicago medicine must then go through Food and Drug Safety Administrations and such regulatory agencies before being released to the public. Many infer that this process will take at least a couple of months, however, there are many concerns that this novelty virus will hit its peak before then. While many public health workers are racing to contain this pathogen, this is not the first time the world has faced such pandemics. Scientists and researchers are looking to the past of similar outbreaks to build off of previous research efforts, these being the novelty severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the Middle East respiratory virus, both caused by coronaviruses.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Formally known as SARS, the severe acute respiratory syndrome was identified in November 2002 in the Guangdong province of China4. From its influenza-like symptoms this novelty virus led progressively as more severe than any other coronavirus, including our current COVID-19 crisis. SARS-CoV is transmitted from person to person by close contact, however, the number of SARS cases are highly dependent on the mode of transmission through respiratory droplets most commonly produced when the viral host sneezes or coughs5. Due to its high rate of transmission this pandemic was subsequently spread to more than 30 countries and although it did not have as many cases as our current novelty virus, it caused about 8,000 cases with 774 deaths world-wide6. SARS Impact on the World The diagnosis of the SARS was made clinically through symptomatic responses made by infected hosts. While many efforts were made through prompt coordination and infection-prevention practices, the virus was contained in July, the following year. The aftermath of this pandemic took a toll on many nations especially in China from the health implications and the political and sociological reactions that confronted China’s actions7. Politically, China was criticized for the hardships and obstacles implemented through the communist system because of its response and failure to abide by its health care system. Aside from its lack of coordination, the SARS epidemic destroyed health infrastructure and caused shortages in supplies and staff. Outside of China, the world stock market was negatively impacted and suffered from dramatic declines in the economy. A model estimated that 80 million dollars of economic activity was lost due to the SARS event due to loss of services, restriction of goods, decreased travel and tourism8. SARS Similarity to COVID-19 Its resemblance to the COVID-19 strain lies in correspondence to its beta-coronavirus genus, which is responsible for the coronaviruses. From this, SARS-CoV-2 contains a genome sequence typical to beta-coronaviruses; its genome contains 14 open reading frames responsible for coding 27 proteins ORF1 and ORF2 at the 5’terminal region of the genome, the main target for viral replication. It’s novelty shape and structure of the virus is encoded by structural proteins Spike, envelope E, membrane Protein, and a nucleocapsid structure that allows the virus to lyse host cells and replicate its DNA in similar fashion9. Research conducted by Nicole Petrosillo compares the phylogeny of the coronavirus with their genetic and physical makeup. Through a phylogenetic tree analysis, the SARS-CoV-2 is more phylogenetically related to the SARS coronavirus than the MERS-CoV strand10. Behind this meaning, researchers infer that the evolution of these two viruses, aside from its animal reservoir, shows that its decreased fatality rate from the SARS strain lies beneath its 380 amino acid substitution, concentrated in the non-structural protein genes. While 27 mutations had been found encoded on the spike protein, it has been discovered that this protein S is responsible for the receptor bind and cell entry is the apparent cause for lower pathogenicity of the current coronavirus strand11. In relation to its pathogenicity of the strain towards the human cell receptor, SARS-CoV-2 shares similarity to SARS-CoV through the same converting enzyme ACE2 as well as the mutations on the receptor-binding domain of the S protein as previously mentioned, contribute to the same underlying purpose of its pathogenicity as well as its factoring transmissibility12. Analysis Overall in comparison to SARS, COVID-19 contains features genetically and clinically similar to SARS. While COVID-19 has less of a severe clinical case than SARS, that does not account for its diverse modes of transmission which have been subsequently spread faster than the SARS strain. This previous knowledge gained through the genetic makeup of similar coronavirus and its impact on the economy and health care system in such a nosocomial setting will further contribute to the strengthening and establishment of our world health systems as well as the prevention and likelihood of another similar outbreak. From the SARS outbreak, our governments have learned to use more effective methods to quickly control the containment of the disease13. An example is such as the SARS event the Center for Disease Control and Prevention immediately issued travel restrictions internationally due to an outbreak14. Much like the COVID-19 outbreak, the healthcare system failed to maintain standard health-care capacity due to overflowing cases which led to a shortage of resources15. Mirroring the past SARS outbreak, COVID-19 has caused similar public consumerism and stock market crashes affecting the global economy as a whole16. Concluding Statement The SARS disease contains similarities mirroring its genetic features and political, economic, and sociological impacts in various stages among nations. Because these beta-coronaviruses are hosted by animal reservoirs such as bats, the coronavirus is most likely to reappear again through contact of other animals bought for consumption or direct contact of wild animals. Learning from our mistakes in the past will help us prepare for a similar crisis, so while we have the time we should research and focus on the past in the interest of our future. Cited Sources @HelenBranswell, H. B., @DrewQJoseph, A. J., Branswell, H. undefined, Joseph, A. undefined, Branswell, H. undefined, Branswell, H. undefined, … Michael, undefined. (2020, March 11). WHO declares the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. 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Retrieved April 17, 2020, from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2020.02.001 Petrosillo, N., Viceconte, G., Ergonul, O., Ippolito, G., & Petersen, E. (2020, March 28). COVID-19, SARS, and MERS: are they closely related? Retrieved April 17, 2020, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1198743X20301713#bib5 Wu, A., Peng, Y., Huang, B., Ding, X., Wang, X., Niu, P., … Jiang, T. (2020, February 7). Aiping Wu 9 Yousong Peng 9 Baoying Huang 9 Wenjie Tan Genhong Cheng Taijiao Jiang Show all authors Show footnotesOpen AccessxPublished: February 07, 2020DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2020.02.001 PlumX Metrics. Retrieved April 17, 2020, from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2020.02.001 Wan, Y., Shang, J., Graham, R., Baric, R. S., & Li, F. (2020, March 17). Receptor Recognition by the Novel Coronavirus from Wuhan: an Analysis Based on Decade-Long Structural Studies of SARS Coronavirus. Retrieved April 17, 2020, from https://jvi.asm.org/content/94/7/e00127-20 SARS. (2005, May 3). 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