The effective therapeutic strategies to fight against COVID-19 in India

Abstract

In December 2019, the global pandemic coronavirus infection (COVID-19) was first detected in Wuhan, Hubei Province, Central China. It is caused by coronavirus-2, which causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2). This was declared by World Health Organization on 11^th March 2020. In India, the first case of COVID-19 infection was reported in Kerala on January 27,2020 of a 20 yr old female presented to an Emergency Department in General Hospital, Thrissur, Kerala. Since then, many government and health officials are trying hard to combat with this perniciousness novel coronavirus disease. It is known that coronavirus enters into human cells by the help of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE2) receptor. The infection starts in the cells of the respiratory mucosa and then spreads to the lungs' alveolar epithelial cells. The receptor facilitates in the binding and release of nucleocapsid into the cell by fusing the viral membrane with the host cell membrane. The virus subsequently replicates and produces viral RNAs and proteins using the host machinery. These are assembled into new viral particles called virions by budding into intracellular membranes. The release of new virus particles causes the host cells to die. This replication cycle study of the virus gives new insight for the development of potential drugs and vaccines for treatment of coronavirus disease. In the first wave of the pandemic, hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial medicine, was shown to be effective for coronavirus patients, but it was no longer regarded therapeutic in the second wave of the Delta variant. Instead, another drug called Remdesivir became more prevalent in second wave. Although, the omicron variant showed milder effects with less death rate. In this review, therapeutic strategies including potential drugs and effective vaccines are to be discussed to fight effectively against the disease.