A broad perspective on COVID-19: A global pandemic and a focus on preventive medicine

Abstract

Coronavirus 2019 has become a highly infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2, a strain of novel coronavirus, which challenges millions of global healthcare facilities. Coronavirus are sub-microscopic, single stranded positive sense RNA viruses that leads to multi organ dysfunction syndrome, severe acute and chronic respiratory distress syndrome and pneumonia. The spike glycoprotein structure of the virus causes the viral protein to bind with the receptors on the lung and gut through angiotensin-converting enzyme 2. In some cases, the infected patients become hyper to the immune system because of the uncontrolled production of cytokines resulting in “cytokine storm”, a devastating consequence of coronavirus disease 2019. Due to the rapid mutant strain and infective nature of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2, discovering a drug or developing a vaccine remains a global challenge. However, some anti-viral agents, certain protease inhibitor drugs, non-steroidal inflammatory drugs and convalescent plasma treatment were suggested. The containment and social distancing measures only aim at reducing the rate of new infections. In this view, we suggest certain traditional herbs and complementary and alternative medicine as a supporting public healthcare measure to boost the immune system and also may provide some lead to treat and prevent this infection.