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Background: Knowledge is one of the contributing factors formulating the perception and attitude of people towards disease outbreaks, which in turn drives compliance to effective prevention and control measures. The current cross-sectional study assessed the knowledge, perception and practices (KPP) towards COVID-19 pandemic among care receivers attending Ahmadu Bello University medical center (ABUMC) in Zaria, Nigeria. Methods: Data were collected using selfadministered questionnaires which covered demographic characteristics and related KPP questions. Responses were tabulated, frequencies and percentages were computed for descriptive purposes, while independent t-test and ANOVA were used to depict statistical differences between demographic groups. Results: Among the 150 participants who answered the questionnaires, 58.7% were female, 62.0% were undergraduate students at various level of studies, 25.5% held a bachelor degree, about half of them (52.7%) never married, and have mean age of 29.90 ±10.66 years. Majority of the participants, especially women are knowledgeable about COVID-19 with overall mean knowledge score of 4.91 ±1.68 (70.14%). Similarly, 16-25years age range, and higher educational status were found to possess significantly (p<0.05) higher mean knowledge score. They hold positive perceptions, and have correct practices towards COVID-19 prevention. However, significant proportion of the participants (12.0%) believed that the disease does not exist in Nigeria. Conclusion:This study has demonstrated that, majority of the care receivers attending ABUMC have good knowledge, perception and practices toward COVID-19. Nevertheless, certain knowledge gaps and bad practices toward the pandemic were equally identified, which highlight the need to reiterate targeted health awareness campaigns about the pandemic in Nigeria.

The novel coronavirus designated as SARS-CoV-2 is the etiological agent of coronavirus disease 2019 , which rendered the care of the global health powerless and plunged the world economy into a historic decline. This disease is characterized by different clinical pictures; ranging from asymptomatic mild phase to severe illness with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), in addition to having no specific therapy. The protective immunity involving solid CD4 + T-cells, viral specific CD8 + T-cells and the neutralizing immunoglobulins have been established in most of the convalescent COVID-19 individuals. On the other hand, the host immune response to severe COVID-19 infection has been attributed to the inflammatory cytokine storm, and to influx of the activated immune cells to the lungs; leading to severe pneumonia, extensive ARDS and finally to death. Despite of this, the protective and pathogenic aspects of the human immunity have not been fully elucidated. Recent attempts conducted by several published research works have focused on information derived from the immune responses to the severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus diseases (mainly; SARS and MERS). However, these works lack sufficiency due to variations in the transmissibility, virulence, host-virus interactions and the immune evasion mechanisms. Hence, adequate understanding of the host immune response mechanisms to SARS-CoV-2 will generate the impetus towards effective control and preventive measures. The objectives of this article were to provide an overview of the host immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection, the viral immune evasion strategies, and to define certain knowledge gaps that require further studies.

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