COVID-19: An Overview of Current progress and prospects in the frantic race to develop upcoming safe and effective SARS-CoV-2 vaccine Candidates

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). It quickly spread around the world after its first emergence in Wuhan in December 2019 to become a global pandemic with millions of infections worldwide. As of 1 November 2020, nearly 46 million cases have been reported globally and 1.2 million patients succumbed to the viral disease. Due to the lack of efficient and specific therapeutic and prophylactic options available and the need to contain the epidemic, and its economic, political, cultural, demographic and societal consequences, there is a strong consensus globally only the development of a safe and effective vaccine against COVID-19 is the best way to control and ultimately end the pandemic. Faced with the urgency imposed by the speed of expansion of covid-19, scientists are led to launch themselves into a race against the clock to produce a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine by next year. Once the vaccine has been developed, strong international coordination and cooperation between all stakeholders in the vaccine productionprocess will be needed to ensure equitable availability of the vaccine to the global population

COVID-19 severityin patients with diabetes and cardiovascular diseases: A Short Review

A novel Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been become a global health hazard and declared as a pandemic disease by WHO. Patients with Covid-19 and pre-existing medical conditions like cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus and hypertension have an increased risk of severe disease and death. Furthermore, the increased expression of Angiotensin -converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2) in patients with diabetes or cardiovascular diseases could increase the risk of severe infection with SARS-CoV-2

Moroccan Leishmania infantum: Genetic Diversity and Population Structure as Revealed by Multi-Locus Microsatellite Typing

Leishmania infantum causes Visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis in northern Morocco. It predominantly affects children under 5 years with incidence of 150 cases/year. Genetic variability and population structure have been investigated for 33 strains isolated from infected dogs and humans in Morocco. A multilocus microsatellite typing (MLMT) approach was used in which a MLMtype based on size variation in 14 independent microsatellite markers was compiled for each strain. MLMT profiles of 10 Tunisian, 10 Algerian and 21 European strains which belonged to zymodeme MON-1 and non-MON-1 according to multilocus enzyme electrophoresis (MLEE) were included for comparison. A Bayesian model-based approach and phylogenetic analysis inferred two L.infantum sub-populations; Sub-population A consists of 13 Moroccan strains grouped with all European strains of MON-1 type; and subpopulation B consists of 15 Moroccan strains grouped with the Tunisian and Algerian MON-1 strains. Theses subpopulations were significantly different from each other and from the Tunisian, Algerian and European non MON-1 strains which constructed one separate population. The presence of these two sub-populations co-existing in Moroccan endemics suggests multiple introduction of L. infantum from/to Morocco; (1) Introduction from/to the neighboring North African countries, (2) Introduction from/to the Europe. These scenarios are supported by the presence of sub-population B and sub-population A respectively. Gene flow was noticed between sub-populations A and B. Five strains showed mixed A/B genotypes indicating possible recombination between the two populations. MLMT has proven to be a powerful tool for eco-epidemiological and population genetic investigations of Leishmania.The fieldwork and data collection was granted by Pastur Institute in Morocco for Dr. Meryem Lemrani. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

SARS-CoV-2 virus genome structure and evolution

Late December 2019, a new virus outbreak was detected in Wuhan, Hubei province China and later spread all over the world.The virus is a new strain of the β-Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) with a single strand positive sense RNA, and a genome size of 29,890 kb that codes for 9744 amino acids. Not many mutations are depicted in the SARS-CoV-2 genome, However, most of them are detected in the ORF8 regionand the spike. The latter exhibits higher affinity with the Human ACE2 receptor than the SARS-CoV.Alignment of SARS-CoV-2 genome with other Corona viruses shows a high similarity to the Bat-CoV,but this latter was not enough to conclude that the Bat is the origin of the Human SARS-CoV-2. This review aimed to provide an overview of the viral genome structure and its origin

Therapies in the fight against Covid-19

SARS-Cov-2 Coronavirus is a new emerging virus causing the COVID-19, a respiratory disease outbreak that started in China in December 2019. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization has declared this to be a public health emergency of international concern. By September 2020, COVID-19 has affected more than 33 millionin 210 countries and territories worldwide. In this review, we present an overview of the drugs and medicines to combat COVID-19 currently in the clinical trial. We summarize the challenges facing, and opportunities for the discovery of new therapies in this emergency situation

In Silico Analysis of High-Risk Missense Variants in Human ACE2 Gene and Susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 Infection

SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus uses for entry to human host cells a SARS-CoV receptor of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE2) that catalyzes the conversion of angiotensin II into angiotensin (1-7). To understand the effect of ACE2 missense variants on protein structure, stability, and function, various bioinformatics tools were used including SIFT, PANTHER, PROVEAN, PolyPhen2.0, I. Mutant Suite, MUpro, SWISS-MODEL, Project HOPE, ModPred, QMEAN, ConSurf, and STRING. All twelve ACE2 nsSNPs were analyzed. Six ACE2 high-risk pathogenic nsSNPs (D427Y, R514G, R708W, R710C, R716C, and R768W) were found to be the most damaging by at least six software tools (cumulative score between 6 and 7) and exert deleterious effect on the ACE2 protein structure and likely function. Additionally, they revealed high conservation, less stability, and having a role in posttranslation modifications such a proteolytic cleavage or ADP-ribosylation. This in silico analysis provides information about functional nucleotide variants that have an impact on the ACE2 protein structure and function and therefore susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2

Socio-economic and environmental factors associated with Montenegro skin test positivity in an endemic area of visceral leishmaniasis in northern Morocco

In Marocco, many aspects of human asymptomatic visceral leishmaniasis (VL) still have to be clarified and little information is available about the factors that predispose individuals to asymptomatic infection. A prospective study was carried out in 889 healthy children under the age of 15 years living in two provinces in the endemic area in northern Morocco (the provinces of Taounate and My Yacoub) from April to May 2010. The aim of the study was to evaluate the prevalence and the socio-economic and environmental characteristics associated with infection by Leishmania infantum. The Montenegro skin test (MST) was used to detect asymptomatic infection. The prevalence of transmission of infection was 11.4% and approximately 2 times higher in Taounate than in My Yacoub, as measured by MST. Asymptomatic infection was associated with gender, age, presence of familial links, proximity to chickens, and the number of people in the house and locality, but it was not associated to education status, presence of dogs, livestock waste, sewage disposal, water supply system or use of insecticide

Seroprevalence of brucellosis among farmers in Morocco

From17 to 31 December 2017, a cross‑sectional study was conducted by selecting a study population in numerous farms spred over 30 douars covering the entire province of Sidi Kacem. A total of 430 people were interviewed, using a structured questionnaire in Arabic languages including clinical symptoms.A 3-5 ml venous blood sample was collected from each patient. Of all patients, 189 (44%) were male and 241 (56%) were femelle. Sample sera were tested for Brucella antibodies using rose Bengal plate test and immunoglobulin (Ig) M/IgG enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for confirmation.Of all people surveyed, 212 were confirmed positive for brucellosis, giving an overall seroprevalence of 49.30% (212/430). Of these, 128 (60.4%) were males and most of whom were married. However, the maritial status and educational level appears not to affect the seroprevalence of brucellosis for both sexes. Among patients who claim to have brucellosis related symptoms (n = 211), 101 subjects were IgG positive / IgM negative and 9 were IgM positive / IgG negative. However, 1 and 117 cases among those who profess not to have any symptoms of brucellosis were IgM positive /IgG negative and IgG positive / IgM negative, respectively.It is concluded from the current study that brucellosis is highly prevalent in humans in Sidi Kacem province, where animal breeding is common. Preventive and control measures should immediately and strictly be implemented to protect animals and humans from brucellosis

Seroprevalence of Leptospirosis among High-Risk Individuals in Morocco

International audienceBackground: Leptospirosis is an anthropozoonotic reemerging neglected infectious disease underreported in most developing countries. A cross-sectional study was performed between 17 and 23 February 2014 to estimate the seroprevalence of leptospirosis among high-risk populations in Casablanca (Morocco).Methods: A total of 490 human serum samples (97.6% males) were collected in 3 high-risk occupational sites including the biggest meat slaughterhouse (n = 208), a poultry market (n = 121), and the fish market (n = 161). A total of 125 human blood samples were also collected from the general population and used in this study as a control group. To detect the presence of anti-Leptospira, sera were screened with in-house IgG and IgM enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Positive samples were tested by Microscopic Agglutination Technique (MAT) using a panel of 24 serovar cultures and cut point of 1 : 25.Results: Seroprevalence of leptospirosis among the control group was 10.4% (13/125). A high seropositivity among the overall seroprevalence of 24.1% (118/490) was observed in the high-risk groups of which 7.3% (36/490), 13.7% (67/490), and 3.1% (15/490) were for anti-Leptospira IgM, IgG, and both IgG and IgM antibodies, respectively. Most of the positive individuals were occupationally involved in poultry (37.2%), followed by the market fish (26.1%) and the meat slaughterhouse (14.9%) workers. Among all ELISA-positive serum samples, 20.3% (n = 24) had positive MAT responses, of which the Icterohaemorrhagiae (n = 7) is the most common infecting serogroup followed by Javanica (4), Australis (2), and Sejroe, Mini, and Panama (one in each). In the remaining 8 MAT-positive sera, MAT showed equal titers against more than one serogroup.Conclusion: Individuals engaged in risk activities are often exposed to leptospiral infection. Therefore, control and prevention policies toward these populations are necessary