A comparative overview of COVID-19, MERS and SARS: Review article. (September 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Liu, Jie; Xie, Wanli; Wang, Yanting; Xiong, Yue; Chen, Shiqiang; Han, Jingjing; Wu, Qingping
• Is Part Of: International journal of surgery. Volume 81(2020)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 8
• Publication Date: 2020-09
• Subjects: SARS -- MERS -- COVID-19 -- SARS-CoV-2 -- Epidemiology -- Treatment; Surgery -- Periodicals; Surgical Procedures, Operative -- Periodicals; 617.005
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijsu.2020.07.032
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1743-9191

Abstract

Abstract: Following the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), a third, highly pathogenic coronavirus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) appearing at end of 2019 led to a pandemic, increased panic and attracted global attention. This review analyzes the epidemiology, etiology, clinical characteristics, treatment and sequelae of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to help provide direction for further studies that can help understand COVID-19. Highlights: COVID-19 shows some peculiar features which to date are not completely understood. SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV are zoonotic viruses that are highly pathogenic. There seem to be some similarities in SARS, MERS and COVID-19.