SARS-CoV2 and Covid-19: pathophysiological and immunological aspects, diagnostic strategies and vaccine development

Abstract

The SARS-CoV-2 virus, from probable bat origin, was initially detected in China and is the etiological agent of the disease called COVID-19. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the pandemic. The emergence of the virus was due to gene recombination originated, probably, in non-human host, broke the interspecies barrier and affected the human population, presenting greater morbidity and mortality in elderly, especially those with risk factors. There are many studies in progress aiming to elucidate aspects of the virus and immunopathogenesis, whose results will allow the development of antivirals, increasingly sensitive, specific and precise diagnostic methods and, above all, the development of vaccines whose current scenario is exposed, didactically, here. The experience resulting from the growing and accumulated knowledge will greatly contribute to future interventions in grievances determined by the inexorable emergence of new viral pathogens.