Pandemics of the past: A Narrative Review

Khan, Uzma; Mehta, Roopa; Arif, Murtaza; Lakhani, Om J

doi:10.5455/jpma.11

Cited by 12 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Epidemics have been affecting humans for decades (Khan et al, 2020). Millions of people have died from epidemics, including the 6th and 7th "EI Tor" cholera (Zhang et al, 2014), influenza A (H2N2) (Joseph et al, 2015), and HIV/AIDS FIGURE 2 | The mutational binding stabilities of RBD variants interacting to H11-D4 nanobody.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comprehensive Deep Mutational Scanning Reveals the Immune-Escaping Hotspots of SARS-CoV-2 Receptor-Binding Domain Targeting Neutralizing Antibodies

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 has caused the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in the collapse of medical care systems and economic depression worldwide. To combat COVID-19, neutralizing antibodies have been investigated and developed. However, the evolutions (mutations) of the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 enable escape from neutralization by these antibodies, further impairing recognition by the human immune system. Thus, it is critical to investigate and predict the putative mutations of RBD that escape neutralizing immune responses. Here, we employed computational analyses to comprehensively investigate the mutational effects of RBD on binding to neutralizing antibodies and angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and demonstrated that the RBD residues K417, L452, L455, F456, E484, G485, F486, F490, Q493, and S494 were consistent with clinically emerging variants or experimental observations of attenuated neutralizations. We also revealed common hotspots, Y449, L455, and Y489, that exerted comparable destabilizing effects on binding to both ACE2 and neutralizing antibodies. Our results provide valuable information on the putative effects of RBD variants on interactions with neutralizing antibodies. These findings provide insights into possible evolutionary hotspots that can escape recognition by these antibodies. In addition, our study results will benefit the development and design of vaccines and antibodies to combat the newly emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comprehensive Deep Mutational Scanning Reveals the Immune-Escaping Hotspots of SARS-CoV-2 Receptor-Binding Domain Targeting Neutralizing Antibodies

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Cholera that came from the Indian subcontinent was called "Asiatic Cholera" by Americans (Suddath, 2010). Other examples of labeling diseases include the "Russian Flu or Asiatic Flu" that originated from Russia in 1889, the "Asian Flu" of 1957 that originated from China, and the "Hong-Kong Flu" of 1968 that originated from Hong-Kong (Khan et al, 2020). Although not directly stating blame, the foundations for discrimination are built by implicating the nation of origin.…”

Section: The Prevalence Of Blame and The Discrimination It Createsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to the founder of Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, Dr. David Ho, "it was a repeat of the cholera experience, (as) it was easy to brand the victims and blame the disease on their lifestyle" (Wilford, 2008). When AIDS was found by doctors in America in the 1980s, it was termed the 'gay plague' (Khan et al, 2020), causing hate crimes and discrimination towards the homosexual community. In Chelsea in New York City, gangs had violently attacked homosexuals more than twice the rate of the year before in 1986, including murders specifically targeting homosexuals.…”

Section: The Prevalence Of Blame and The Discrimination It Createsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Associate Professor at Johns Hopkins Daniel Barnett (2011) reinforces the importance of this proposition, contending that the precise definitions of pandemics have "enormous bearing on planning priorities". In order to remove bias and be direct, Dr. Khan of the University of Missouri agrees that communicating the severity of the disease is vital when preparing resources to combat a pandemic, so a more effective and quick medical response would result in economical resource distribution (Khan et al, 2020).…”

Section: The Importance Of a Quick Response And Efficient Resource Allocationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The Effects of Blame and Politicization on Responses to Pandemics

Ding

Kananack

2021

J Stud Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

COVID-19 has caused widespread discrimination and blame; however, analyzing history, it becomes apparent that racially motivated blame is common during pandemics. Placed for religious, ethnic, or socioeconomic reasons, blame has caused discrimination and stigma for the “other”. Blaming a specific race without scientific evidence causes discrimination and hate crimes, creating more problems that require attention and resources to resolve and diverting them from the pandemic response. A quick and direct response is vital for minimizing the impacts of pandemics, while blame only distracts and leads to politicizing the disease. This paper finds that unfounded blame throughout history results in delays in the health response, inefficient resource allocation, and the undermining of cooperation. This blame is part of politicizing pandemics, which exacerbates the impacts of the disease by diverting attention away from the health response and disease’s containment. Racist accusations during pandemics against Asians in America since the turn of the 20th century also led to hate crimes and increased discrimination, resulting in discriminatory public perception reflected even through government actions. COVID-19 is reflecting these historical trends. The latest disease to be politicized, the coronavirus has widened the scope of scapegoating beyond blaming Asians. Its politicization is creating further divisions in society and leading to tension on both a global scale with the WHO and domestically with the CDC and state legislatures. Consistent with former diseases, unfounded blame during the coronavirus is a practice that ultimately causes more deaths and needs to end immediately.

show abstract

“…Among the infectious agents, HIV emerged as a global threat in the late twentieth century. AIDS, a retrovirus, was first identified in the early 1980s as a disease [ 3 , 4 ]. HIV-1 was identified as the causative agent, infecting CD4+ T cells.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structures of SARS-CoV-2 RNA-Binding Proteins and Therapeutic Targets

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) epidemic has resulted in thousands of infections and deaths worldwide. Several therapies are currently undergoing clinical trials for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, the development of new drugs and the repositioning of existing drugs can only be achieved after the identification of potential therapeutic targets within structures, as this strategy provides the most precise solution for developing treatments for sudden epidemic infectious diseases. Summary: In the current investigation, crystal and cryo-electron microscopy structures encoded by the SARS-CoV-2 genome were systematically examined for the identification of potential drug targets. These structures include nonstructural proteins (Nsp-9; Nsp-12; and Nsp-15), nucleocapsid (N) proteins, and the main protease (Mpro). Key Message: The structural information reveals the presence of many potential alternative therapeutic targets, primarily involved in interaction between N protein and Nsp3, forming replication-transcription complexes (RTCs) which might be a potential drug target for effective control of current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. RTCs consist of 16 nonstructural proteins (Nsp1-16) that play the most essential role in the synthesis of viral RNA. Targeting the physical linkage between the envelope and single-stranded positive RNA, a process facilitated by matrix proteins may provide a good alternative strategy. Our current study provides useful information for the development of new lead compounds against SARS-CoV-2 infections.

show abstract

Pandemics of the past: A Narrative Review

Cited by 12 publications

References 0 publications

Comprehensive Deep Mutational Scanning Reveals the Immune-Escaping Hotspots of SARS-CoV-2 Receptor-Binding Domain Targeting Neutralizing Antibodies

Comprehensive Deep Mutational Scanning Reveals the Immune-Escaping Hotspots of SARS-CoV-2 Receptor-Binding Domain Targeting Neutralizing Antibodies

The Effects of Blame and Politicization on Responses to Pandemics

Structures of SARS-CoV-2 RNA-Binding Proteins and Therapeutic Targets

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About