How can nanotechnology help to combat COVID-19? Opportunities and urgent need

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Abstract

Incidents of viral outbreaks have increased at an alarming rate over the past decades. The most recent human coronavirus known as COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) has already spread around the world and shown R ₀ values from 2.2 to 2.68. However, the ratio between mortality and number of infections seems to be lower in this case in comparison to other human coronaviruses (such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV)). These outbreaks have tested the limits of healthcare systems and have posed serious questions about management using conventional therapies and diagnostic tools. In this regard, the use of nanotechnology offers new opportunities for the development of novel strategies in terms of prevention, diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 and other viral infections. In this review, we discuss the use of nanotechnology for COVID-19 virus management by the development of nano-based materials, such as disinfectants, personal protective equipment, diagnostic systems and nanocarrier systems, for treatments and vaccine development, as well as the challenges and drawbacks that need addressing.

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A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin

Peng Zhou, Xing-Lou Yang, Xian-Guang Wang … (2020)

Since the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) 18 years ago, a large number of SARS-related coronaviruses (SARSr-CoVs) have been discovered in their natural reservoir host, bats 1–4 . Previous studies have shown that some bat SARSr-CoVs have the potential to infect humans 5–7 . Here we report the identification and characterization of a new coronavirus (2019-nCoV), which caused an epidemic of acute respiratory syndrome in humans in Wuhan, China. The epidemic, which started on 12 December 2019, had caused 2,794 laboratory-confirmed infections including 80 deaths by 26 January 2020. Full-length genome sequences were obtained from five patients at an early stage of the outbreak. The sequences are almost identical and share 79.6% sequence identity to SARS-CoV. Furthermore, we show that 2019-nCoV is 96% identical at the whole-genome level to a bat coronavirus. Pairwise protein sequence analysis of seven conserved non-structural proteins domains show that this virus belongs to the species of SARSr-CoV. In addition, 2019-nCoV virus isolated from the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of a critically ill patient could be neutralized by sera from several patients. Notably, we confirmed that 2019-nCoV uses the same cell entry receptor—angiotensin converting enzyme II (ACE2)—as SARS-CoV.

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Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 99 cases of 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan, China: a descriptive study

Nanshan Chen, Min Zhou, Xuan Dong … (2022)

Summary Background In December, 2019, a pneumonia associated with the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) emerged in Wuhan, China. We aimed to further clarify the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 2019-nCoV pneumonia. Methods In this retrospective, single-centre study, we included all confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV in Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital from Jan 1 to Jan 20, 2020. Cases were confirmed by real-time RT-PCR and were analysed for epidemiological, demographic, clinical, and radiological features and laboratory data. Outcomes were followed up until Jan 25, 2020. Findings Of the 99 patients with 2019-nCoV pneumonia, 49 (49%) had a history of exposure to the Huanan seafood market. The average age of the patients was 55·5 years (SD 13·1), including 67 men and 32 women. 2019-nCoV was detected in all patients by real-time RT-PCR. 50 (51%) patients had chronic diseases. Patients had clinical manifestations of fever (82 [83%] patients), cough (81 [82%] patients), shortness of breath (31 [31%] patients), muscle ache (11 [11%] patients), confusion (nine [9%] patients), headache (eight [8%] patients), sore throat (five [5%] patients), rhinorrhoea (four [4%] patients), chest pain (two [2%] patients), diarrhoea (two [2%] patients), and nausea and vomiting (one [1%] patient). According to imaging examination, 74 (75%) patients showed bilateral pneumonia, 14 (14%) patients showed multiple mottling and ground-glass opacity, and one (1%) patient had pneumothorax. 17 (17%) patients developed acute respiratory distress syndrome and, among them, 11 (11%) patients worsened in a short period of time and died of multiple organ failure. Interpretation The 2019-nCoV infection was of clustering onset, is more likely to affect older males with comorbidities, and can result in severe and even fatal respiratory diseases such as acute respiratory distress syndrome. In general, characteristics of patients who died were in line with the MuLBSTA score, an early warning model for predicting mortality in viral pneumonia. Further investigation is needed to explore the applicability of the MuLBSTA score in predicting the risk of mortality in 2019-nCoV infection. Funding National Key R&D Program of China.

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Early Transmission Dynamics in Wuhan, China, of Novel Coronavirus–Infected Pneumonia

Qun Li, Xuhua Guan, Peng Wu … (2020)

Abstract Background The initial cases of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)–infected pneumonia (NCIP) occurred in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, in December 2019 and January 2020. We analyzed data on the first 425 confirmed cases in Wuhan to determine the epidemiologic characteristics of NCIP. Methods We collected information on demographic characteristics, exposure history, and illness timelines of laboratory-confirmed cases of NCIP that had been reported by January 22, 2020. We described characteristics of the cases and estimated the key epidemiologic time-delay distributions. In the early period of exponential growth, we estimated the epidemic doubling time and the basic reproductive number. Results Among the first 425 patients with confirmed NCIP, the median age was 59 years and 56% were male. The majority of cases (55%) with onset before January 1, 2020, were linked to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, as compared with 8.6% of the subsequent cases. The mean incubation period was 5.2 days (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.1 to 7.0), with the 95th percentile of the distribution at 12.5 days. In its early stages, the epidemic doubled in size every 7.4 days. With a mean serial interval of 7.5 days (95% CI, 5.3 to 19), the basic reproductive number was estimated to be 2.2 (95% CI, 1.4 to 3.9). Conclusions On the basis of this information, there is evidence that human-to-human transmission has occurred among close contacts since the middle of December 2019. Considerable efforts to reduce transmission will be required to control outbreaks if similar dynamics apply elsewhere. Measures to prevent or reduce transmission should be implemented in populations at risk. (Funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China and others.)

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Author and article information

Contributors

Renata de Lima: renata.lima@prof.uniso.br

Leonardo Fernandes Fraceto: leonardo.fraceto@unesp.br

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): J Nanobiotechnology

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): J Nanobiotechnology

Title: Journal of Nanobiotechnology

Publisher: BioMed Central (London )

ISSN (Electronic): 1477-3155

Publication date (Electronic): 5 September 2020

Publication date PMC-release: 5 September 2020

Publication date Collection: 2020

Volume: 18

Electronic Location Identifier: 125

Affiliations

[1 ]GRID grid.412368.a, ISNI 0000 0004 0643 8839, Human and Natural Sciences Center, , Federal University of ABC. Av. dos Estados, ; 5001. Bl. A, T3 Lab. 503-3. Bangú, Santo André, SP Brazil

[2 ]GRID grid.410543.7, ISNI 0000 0001 2188 478X, São Paulo State University–UNESP, Institute of Science and Technology, ; Sorocaba, SP Brazil

[3 ]GRID grid.442238.b, ISNI 0000 0001 1882 0259, Universidade de Sorocaba, ; Rodovia Raposo Tavares km 92,5, Sorocaba, São Paulo Brazil

Article

Publisher ID: 685

DOI: 10.1186/s12951-020-00685-4

PMC ID: 7474329

PubMed ID: 32891146

SO-VID: ddc3bf44-9fd4-4106-918f-555b2c7d02e7

License:

Open AccessThis article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.

History

Date received : 9 July 2020

Date accepted : 28 August 2020

Funding

Funded by: FundRef http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001807, Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo;

Award ID: 2019/05100-1

Award ID: 2017/24402-1

Award ID: 2018/21142-1

Award ID: 2018/23608-8

Award ID: 2017/21004-5

Award Recipient : Estefânia V. R. Campos Jhones Luiz de Oliveira Lucas Bragança Carvalho Leonardo Fernandes Fraceto

Funded by: FundRef http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100002322, Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior;

Award ID: CAPES-COFECUB 88887.363975/2019-00

Award Recipient : Anderson E. S. Pereira

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ScienceOpen disciplines: Biotechnology

Keywords: coronavirus,sars-cov-2,nanotechnology,nanoparticles,nanosensors,nano-vaccines

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ScienceOpen disciplines: Biotechnology

Keywords: coronavirus, sars-cov-2, nanotechnology, nanoparticles, nanosensors, nano-vaccines

How can nanotechnology help to combat COVID-19? Opportunities and urgent need

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Abstract

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Novel Coronavirus Disease COVID-19

Most cited references 147

A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin

Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 99 cases of 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan, China: a descriptive study

Early Transmission Dynamics in Wuhan, China, of Novel Coronavirus–Infected Pneumonia

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