Abstract
There was an outbreak of SARS-CoV-2, a novel coronavirus, in late December 2019, originated in Wuhan, China. The virus causes problems with the respiratory tract. The syndrome is called "COVID-19". The number of infections and mortality has increased in China within a few weeks after the first patient was discovered. The virus quickly spread globally, including in Thailand. Fortunately, Thailand has an excellent public health policy for handling the outbreak. So we could control the first wave of the epidemic by reduced the infection rate to zero for several months. However, the health systems research institute (HSRI) is looking forward to finding the research direction of COVID-19 for the country. Therefore, this project was funded to review the essential knowledge about the COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 for HSRI. The review will be used as basic information for making a policy and manipulating COVID-19 granting in the future. The investigators reviewed the general knowledge of the SARS-CoV-2 that was a causative agent of the COVID-19. The report is divided into five chapters, where Chapter 1 addresses the basic biology of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, including taxonomy, virus structure, genome structure, viral proteins, and virus life cycle. Chapter 2 describes the diagnosis of infection by different test kits. The investigators have identified the key points of the different test kits, the limitations of the use of the diagnostic kits and their interpretation. Chapter 3 summarized all five major types of SARS-CoV-2 antiviral agents, which is currently used. The five grooups of antiviral drugs are (i) anti-enzyme activity of RNA Dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), (ii) protease inhibitor, (iii) anti-fusion between the viral envelope and the host cell membrane, (iv) the antagonistic binding activity between the virus and host cell surface and receptors, and (v) anti-interleukine-6 receptor. Chapter 4 is focused on the immune system responding to SARS-CoV-2 virus infection. Chapter 5 will address the opinions of researchers, who are working on COVID-19 research over time of outbreak. The investigators wish the information of this report would be helpful for HSRI to be used in country policy-making for COVID-19 funding.
