Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has uprooted our lives like never before since its onset in the late December 2019. The world has seen mounting infections and deaths over the past few months despite the unprecedented measures countries are implementing, such as lockdowns, social distancing, mask-wearing, and banning gatherings in large groups. Interestingly, young individuals seem less likely to be impacted by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus responsible for COVID-19. While the rate of transmission, symptom presentation, and fatality is lower in children than people from other age groups, they have been disproportionately affected by strict lockdown measures needed to curb viral spread. In this review, we describe the association between patient age and COVID-19, epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children, psychological effects associated with lockdowns and school closures, and possible mechanisms underlying lower transmission rate of COVID-19 in children.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy is a progressive new pillar in immune cell therapy for cancer. It has yielded remarkable clinical responses in patients with B-cell leukemia or lymphoma. Unfortunately, many challenges remain to be addressed to overcome its ineffectiveness in the treatment of other hematological and solidtumor malignancies. The major hurdles of CAR T-cell therapy are the associated severe life-threatening toxicities such as cytokine release syndrome and limited anti-tumor efficacy. In this review, we briefly discuss cancer immunotherapy and the genetic engineering of T cells and, In detail, the current innovations in CAR T-cell strategies to improve efficacy in treating solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. Furthermore, we also discuss the current challenges in CAR T-cell therapy and new CAR T-cell-derived nanovesicle therapy. Finally, strategies to overcome the current clinical challenges associated with CAR T-cell therapy are included as well.

Novel 2019 coronavirus has created havoc across the globe since its emergence in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, and fast spreading potential. While we were able to identify the causative agent within a few days of the disease outbreak, several questions still remain unanswered. In this review, we discuss the extent of virus spread, current statistics, SARS-CoV-2 genome organization, comparison between the novel coronavirus and causative agents involved in previous outbreaks, ongoing clinical trials and myths associated with the virus. Lastly, we provide insights into the future perspectives which could prove useful for the scientific community as they work on finding the cure against the disease. Impact statement Early availability of the sequence, the genetic material of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19), has prompted efforts towards identifying a safe and effective vaccine in the current public health emergency. To that end, understanding the pathophysiology of disease is crucial for scientists around the world. Since conventional vaccine development and manufacturing may take several years, it is important to think about alternative strategies that we could use to mitigate imminent catastrophe. We hope that this article will open up new avenues and provide insights that could potentially save hundreds of lives affected by COVID-19.