Coronavirus: the science behind infection control and human exposure.

Coronavirus SARS-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the virus responsible for the disease known as COVID-19. The global community is struggling with the health and economic repercussions of this novel disease, and this article is part of a series that seeks to explore and explain the science behind the foci of infection control measures being considered at both the individual and population health levels. Understanding the factors influencing the ability of this virus to select an appropriate host, breach initial defences and successfully assume a new reservoir from which to disseminate and disperse infective viral particles is considered here. Brief reference is made to infection control measures such as effective hand hygiene, glove usage, environmental decontamination and social distancing guidance against the context of the specific evidence around COVID-19 transmission. Predictors of poorer outcome are introduced in the light of these being target themes for therapeutic development.

A COVID-19 vaccine-dare to dream.

The global desire to produce and deploy a safe and effective vaccine to protect against SARS-CoV-2 infection and the morbidity and mortality subsequent to COVID-19 is unprecedented. The unparalleled speed of research development and access to funding is perhaps equally unique in the history of therapeutic achievement. This article, the third in a series of dedicated to exploring the origins and developments of SARS-CoV-2 within the context of the strategies of infection prevention and control, investigates the theatre behind the extraordinary efforts underpinning the research for therapeutic interventions to halt the COVID-19 pandemic. The Chair of the UK Vaccine Taskforce has stated that the exit strategy depends on a vaccine that is effective in reducing mortality, improving population health by reducing serious disease and protecting the NHS and social care system. This article introduces the major COVID-19 vaccine contenders and considers the challenges and opportunities of an effective global vaccination strategy.

How the zoonotic origins of SARS-CoV-2 ensure its survival as a human disease.

In December 2019, a new species of coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) was identified in a number of patients presenting with pneumonias of unknown aetiology in WuHan Province, China. Early epidemiological indications were of a zoonotic origin: many of the initial patients confirmed contact with a local wet market and the genomic sequencing showed similar characteristics with coronaviruses known to be carried by bats. The theory of subsequent human to human transmission became evident once global epidemiological reporting of COVID infection was established. Confirmation of the origins of infections caused by SARS-CoV-2 was enabled by the early sharing of the initial genomic sequence by China in January 2020 and since developed collaboratively on a globally accessible database, supported by the World Health Organization (https://tinyurl.com/rj32fp3).