Insight into COVID-19 & its Socio-economic Impact

 

Coronavirus is a large family of viruses that are zoonotic in nature that is, transmitted from animals to humans. The first case of COVID-19 infection was reported in Wuhan and the studies state that it was an animal sold at the seafood market which is considered to be the host of COVID-19. The 2019 novel coronavirus was recognised as the causative pathogen of coronavirus outbreak in 2020. There were previous outbreaks of coronavirus infection; it was SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) which was emerged in the year of 2002 in Guangdong, China and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) in 2012 in Saudi Arabia which was also known as atypical pneumonia. SARS-Cov has an affinity towards Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme-2 receptor (ACE-2) and Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) is the receptor to which MERS-CoV is having the highest affinity. The mode of transmission these viruses was known to be: via the bat, the outbreak of SARS-CoV was originated and MERS-CoV has emerged through transmission from dromedary camels.

Description of Coronavirus

 The coronavirus belongs to the family Coronaviridae and the subfamily Orthocoronaviridae. 2019-n-CoV has virions which measure approximately 50-200nm in diameter_. The n-CoV is consisting of a single positive RNA genome which has a size approximately from 27 to 34 kilobases. As in fig.1, coronavirus has a crown-like a shape due to the presence of club-shaped glycoprotein spikes on the envelope of n-CoV. It is this spike protein which plays a major role in the pathogenicity of coronavirus infection. There are certain structural proteins like M-protein, N (Nucleocapsid) protein, E protein which is involved in the virulence of COVID-19. The N protein is related to the replication of coronavirus and host cellular response against the infection. M protein defines the shape of the viral envelope and it is the centre of coronavirus assembly. The E protein which is the smallest structural protein that contributes to replication and E protein together with M protein makeup virion release. Similarly, when M protein binds with N protein, it stabilises the N protein. The 2019-n-CoV has a high affinity to ACE-2 receptors.

The virion RNA seems to be infectious which serves as both genome and viral messenger RNA. The pathogenic effect is exerted by n-CoV through various steps: 1) Attachment of viral spike protein to the host receptors by the process of endocytosis. 2) Fusion of viral membrane to endosomal membrane. 3) Proteolytic cleavage occurs. 4) Release of new virions after replication. The COVI-19 infection is having uniqueness compared to other viral infection. Patients with respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases and along with other comorbid conditions are more prone to COVID-19. The entry of virus can cause the release of cytokines leading to cytokine storm resulting in an imbalance between TH1 &TH2 immune responses. The increased levels of neutrophils, leucocytes, SGPT, SGOT, and decreased levels of haemoglobin, prothrombin time etc. can be observed in laboratory investigations. Elevation in infection biomarkers like procalcitonin, IL-6, serum ferritin can also occur_.  

 

 

This virus can spread through respiratory droplets. The causative agent is present within the respiratory droplets which have the capability to cause the infection. Rarely, the transmission can occur through the faecal matter. The airborne transmission can also occur during mechanical ventilation, manual intubation, nebulizing treatment for patients, non- invasive positive presence ventilation. Novel coronavirus can spread in following ways: coughing and sneezing without covering the mouth can result in the transmission of respiratory droplets into the air, touching/ shaking hands with an infected person, then making surface contact with objects that has the virus and then touching the eyes or nose with same hands. The symptoms of COVID-19: systemic symptoms include fever and fatigue, kidney failure, diarrhoea, respiratory symptoms like sneezing, runny nose, dry cough & dyspnoea

How to overcome COVID-19

Antiviral treatment of duration 3 to 14 days or antibiotic treatment of duration 3 to 17 days are given to the patients. Antiviral drugs include oseltamivir (75mg every 12hours), ganciclovir, lopinavir, and ritonavir tablets (500mg BD) which are given orally. The antibiotics like cephalosporin, quinolones, linezolid, tetracycline etc. Lopinavir drug seems to be useful for SARS-CoV_. The combination of lopinavir-ritonavir show some adverse effects like diarrhoea, inflammation GIT. The arbidol and arbidol mesylate are more effective than ribavirin in suppressing viral replication. Favilavir was an FDA approved drug, it is an antiviral drug which can be used to treat COVID-19. Chloroquine and Remdsivir are other drugs which are used as treatment options for COVID-19. Plasma therapy is a method in the blood plasma of patient recovered from this infection is infused into the victim as the blood of recovered patient contains antibodies against the virus and boost up the immune system of the victim. The DNA vaccines and recombinant measles virus vectored vaccines are under process of development. Protease inhibitors, replicase inhibitors, host-based anti-CoV, membrane-bound viral RNA synthesis inhibitors are also the upcoming treatment options. The preventive measures against COVID-19 infection: wash hands regularly with soap and water, do not touch or shake hands with others, cover the mouth while coughing or sneezing with a disposable tissue or flexed elbows. The health professionals should have to wear personal protective equipment to protect from the infection.

Socio-economic impacts of COVID-19

COVID-19 has a greater impact on different aspects of life. There is a global effect happening due to pandemic condition of COVID-19. The economy, environment, social impact is present in our society. Considering the impact on the economy, the countries globally have decided to undergo complete lockdown. And due to this, the transportation becomes suspended, that is, all the domestic flights, railway services, bus, truck & vehicle transportation were closed. So that all the types of business transports have been deferred amid different countries. India’s growth in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 2020 went down to 3.1% according to Ministry of statistics. The major outcomes of lockdown in India are sharp rise in unemployment, stress on the supply chain, decrease in government income, the collapse of the tourism industry, reduced consumer activity, plunge in fuel consumption, rise in LPG sales etc. Studies state that unemployment rose from 6.7% on 15Marchto 26% on 19 April. 140 million people lost their jobs while salaries were cut for others. Major companies in India are temporarily suspended.

Partial or complete shutdowns will be felt across the economy: Selected G7 countries, in % of GDP at constant prices.

The primary sector includes economy, agriculture, petroleum & oil etc. There is a drop in demand from hotels for the agricultural commodities. The countries are going through protective measures like social distancing, avoiding unnecessary travel & a ban on congregations. Self-isolation is also been practised. So the transportation of agricultural products is stopped. The markets are closed. “Panic buying” is further complicating shortages beyond supermarket shelves. The viral outbreak is dampening the demand for oil and this war have grave implications for global economy any increase to consumer activity is likely to be outweighed by damage caused to population reliant on revenue from other forms of energy such as Shale gas. The secondary sector includes manufacturing industries. Over 80% of respondents anticipated a decline in turnover over the next 2 quarters, with 98% admitting concern about the negative impact of the pandemic on business operations. Since the transportation is been suspended it leads to importation issues & staffing deficiencies are the key concerns for business and it is not a viable option for working from home in the case of manufacturing industries. COVID-19 has affected all levels of the education system. COVID-19 has an impact on social mobility whereby schools are no longer able to provide free school meal for children from a low-income family. The impact on postgraduate’s research community is different as it gives many opportunities to work on COVID-19 related issues. Many of the conferences have been cancelled, these conferences are key to scientific research in many disciplines, allowing dissemination of research as well as providing networking opportunities for collaborations and job seeking. COVID-19 has affected communities, business & organisations globally, inadvertently affecting the financial markets and the global economy. In China, there is reduced production of goods from factories while quarantine and self-isolation process, decreased demand, consumption and utilisation of products. 10 years US Treasury bond yields have dropped to 0.67%. There is sharp in the well-being and economics status of financial companies worldwide. There are unprecedented challenges for healthcare system globally. The healthcare workers are the most vulnerable group for this pandemic condition. The health professionals are guided to use personal protective equipment (PPE) but the shortages of PPE including the N95 facemasks, low number of ICU beds in hospitals is leading to a weakened healthcare control system. Profound changes to the dynamics of healthcare are likely to ensue leading to massive investment into disease prevention infrastructure and the accelerated digital transformation of healthcare delivery. In the US active pharmaceutical ingredients are imported largely from India (18%), EC (26%) & China (13%). Hospitality, tourism & aviation have perhaps been most hard-hit. Since the hotels are temporarily suspended there is a greater impact on hotel industries. Tourism had a greater impact on travel supply and demand. The tourism sector had to implement urgent measures such as temporary state aid for tourism from the national government as well as fast and easy access to short & medium terms loans to overcome liquidity shortages, including funds made available. Since all the airports were closed and the reduction of unnecessary travel globally produced an impact on aviation. There are many daily wages workers or business persons depending on the real state or housing sector who become unemployed through these times. The sporting events had also been postponed due to COVID-19 which was a way to figure out the new talents in the world. The IT, media research & development are giving update information regarding this pandemic condition. With the WHO raising COVID-19’s status to a pandemic, 35 companies and academic institution are racing to develop an effective vaccine. Food distribution and retailing is under strain due to panic buying & stockpiling food by people. Considering the social impact, there are increasing fears of domestic violence which can be physical or emotional. UK’s domestic abuse charities reported a 25% increase in such cases. But the lockdown period helps to bring out new talents hidden inside people which can be considered as a positive impact of COVID-19.

Conclusion

COVID-19 is an epidemic disease which is the rising threat worldwide with many social and economic impacts globally. So the preventive measures as well as the treatment options can be used for controlling the spread of COVID-19. Thereby we can reduce the mortality rates day by day.

 

Miss Camila .A. Carlman, III Pharm.D