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COVID-19

Eric J. Simon, Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Biology & Health Science

New England College, Henniker, NH

© This presentation is copyrighted (All Rights Reserved) by Eric J. Simon (2020).

This presentation may be freely distributed and used for educational purposes provided that this title page and copyright statement are included.

All images included in this presentation are in the public domain.

SimonBiology@gmail.com

This presentation summarizes important basic information on the current pandemic. It was written for high school and college non-science-major students/teachers. Feel free to use, share, and send suggestions for improvements.

Updated 10/6/2020

Contributor: Lori Koziol, Ph.D., New England College

Source of most data: https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus

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A note to educators who wish to use this slide show

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  • Copyright
    • © This presentation is copyrighted (All Rights Reserved) by Eric J. Simon (2020).
    • This presentation may be freely distributed and used for educational purposes provided that the title page and copyright statement are included exactly as written.
    • All images included in this presentation are in the public domain.

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What is an epidemic?

  • An epidemic is the rapid spread of a disease through a population in a relatively short amount of time.

Source: Epidemic page on wikipedia.org, accessed 3/14/2020.

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What is a pandemic?

  • A pandemic is an epidemic that has spread over a large region of the world.

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  • For example, the Spanish flu of 1918-1920 infected 500 million people (about ¼ of the Earth’s population at that time) and killed an estimated 50 million people.

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  • Before 2020, the most recent pandemic was the 2009 H1N1 swine flu. It infected about 10-20% of the world’s population and killed 150,000-500,000 people.

Hospital patients with the Spanish flu, 1919

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What is the current pandemic?

  • December 2019: a novel (new) coronavirus was identified in Wuhan, China.

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  • This virus has since been named

SARS-CoV-2

for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.

[It was previously called 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).]

​

  • The disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 is called

COVID-19

  • March 11, 2020: After the disease caused by this coronavirus spread to 114 countries, the World Health Organization declared it to be a pandemic likely to spread across the globe.

SARS-CoV-2

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What is the current pandemic?

  • January 2020:
    • Jan 7: WHO Officials announce they have identified a new coronavirus.
    • Jan 11: China announces the first death from the virus.
    • Jan 13: The first case is identified outside of China
    • Jan 20: The first human-to-human transfer of the virus is identified

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  • February 2020:
    • Feb 2: The first death outside of China is reported.
    • Feb 14: The disease is confirmed to have spread to Africa and Europe
    • Feb 25: The CDC warns Americans to expect significant disruptions from the virus

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What is the current pandemic?

  • March/April 2020:
    • Cases in the U.S. surge.
    • Most school districts switch to online or remote learning around March 13th.
    • U.S. residents are urged to stay in their homes unless seeking groceries.

​

  • May 2020:
    • Cases in the U.S. begin to decrease.
    • Although most schools stay remote, many U.S. states began reopening non-essential businesses.

​

  • June/July 2020:
    • Cases in the U.S. experience a second surge.

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Progress of the worldwide pandemic:

Feb 1, 2020

April 1, 2020

June 1, 2020

August 1, 2020

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Worldwide view of the pandemic:

Date

Cases reported (worldwide)

Worldwide cumulative reported cases of COVID-19:

Summary: From the beginning, the number of COVID-19 cases has increased exponentially, and they continue to do so. There is no way to predict when the number of cases will start to flatten out.

Graphic and data obtained from https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus

The world passed 30 million cumulative cases on September 18th, 2020.

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Graphic and data obtained from https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus

Summary: The countries with the most cumulative COVID-19 cases are the U.S., India, Brazil, and Russia with over 1 million cases each.

Russia: 1.2M

India:

6.7M

Brazil:

4.9M

U.S.:

7.5M

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Summary: Taking population into account (cases per capita), the worst-hit countries so far are the U.S., South America, and Europe.

Graphic and data obtained from https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus

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Summary: Taking into account population, the disease is currently spreading most rapidly in South America, India, and the U.S.

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Graphic and data obtained from https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus

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The pandemic in the U.S.:

Graphic and data obtained from https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus

Summary: The U.S. is currently experiencing an exponential increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. There is no way to predict when the curve will flatten until it starts to do so.

The U.S. passed 7 million cumulative cases on September 26th, 2020.

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Graphic and data obtained from https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus

Summary: The U.S. experienced two waves of rapid increase in the number of daily cases, one in March/April, and one in June/July.

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The pandemic in the U.S.:

Cumulative confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States by county.

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The New York Times

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Hot spots in the U.S.:

County-by-county daily per capita cases shows that current hot spots are found in the southern and western U.S.

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The New York Times 8/25/2020

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What is a coronavirus?

  • Coronaviruses are a group of viruses that cause several diseases in mammals and birds.
  • In humans, human coronavirus (HCV) causes respiratory infections that are usually mild, including some cases of the common cold.

Computer-generated model

Source: Coronavirus page on Wikipedia.org, accessed 3/14/2020

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What is a coronavirus?

This group of viruses is named for the club-shaped protein spikes (artificially colored red in the computer model) that protrude from the viral surface and create the appearance of a “corona” (crown) when viewed via an electron microscope.

​

Electron micrograph

Source: Coronavirus page on Wikipedia.org, accessed 3/14/2020

Protein spikes that the virus uses to attach to host cells.

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What is a coronavirus?

Classification:

Virus 🡪

realm Riboviria 🡪 phylum incertae sedis 🡪

order nidovirales 🡪

family coronaviridae 🡪

subfamily orthocoronavirinae

Electron micrograph of SARS-CoV-19

Source: NIH NIAID Flickr page

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What is a coronavirus?

​

  • Some coronaviruses cause serious diseases in humans:
    • SARS-CoV is a coronavirus that causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), recognized in 2002
    • MERS-CoV is a coronavirus that causes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)

Computer-generated model

Source: Coronavirus page on Wikipedia.org, accessed 3/14/2020

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What is COVID-19?

  • SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that appeared in 2019, causes an acute respiratory disease called coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 for short).

​

  • The disease is believed to have originated through animal-to-human transmission but soon began to spread via human-to-human transmission.

​

  • COVID-19 is related to the previously known diseases SARS and MERS which are caused by different, but related, viruses.

SARS virus

MERS virus

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SARS-CoV-2 virus

causes

COVID-19 disease

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What are the symptoms?

  • Fever
  • Fatigue
  • Respiratory symptoms:
    • dry cough
    • shortness of breath
    • can lead to pneumonia
  • Symptoms typically appear 2-14 days (average: 5-6 days) after exposure.
  • However, many people may be infected but show no symptoms.

​

​

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What are the symptoms?

Common symptoms

Uncommon symptoms

Severe symptoms

  • Fever
  • Dry cough
  • Shortness of breath
  • Fatigue

​

  • Headache
  • Loss of taste/smell
  • Nasal congestion
  • Sore throat
  • Productive cough (sputum)
  • Muscle/joint pain
  • Chills
  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • Diarrhea
  • High fever
  • Coughing up blood
  • Decreased white blood cells
  • Organ failure
  • Coma

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What are the symptoms?

  • The vast majority of cases are mild.

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  • Most mild cases run their course in 2 weeks.

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  • A minority of cases, most commonly among the elderly and other high-risk populations, progress to include severe pneumonia, organ failure, and death.

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  • These severe cases run their course in 3-6 weeks.

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​

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How does the virus invade the host?

  • Respiratory symptoms occur when the virus infects cells of the alveoli within the lungs.

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  • The virus accesses these host cells when a glycoprotein spike on the outside of the virus binds to a specific protein called ACE2 found on type II alveolar cells.

​

A computer model of the ACE2 protein found on the surface of alveolar lung cells to which the viral protein spikes bind.

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How is COVID-19 diagnosed?

  • PCR test:

​

  • The standard method for confirming a case of COVID-19 is through a rRT-PCR (real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) test of swab samples obtained from the nose or throat.

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  • Results can be obtained from within a few hours to several days.

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  • The complete COVID-19 genome has been sequenced and published, allowing other PCR tests to be developed.

​

​

A PCR machine

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How is COVID-19 diagnosed?

  • Antigen tests:

​

  • These tests confirm viral exposure in the recent past.

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  • They do not test for the virus directly.

​

  • These tests typically involve a nasal or throat swab, or a saliva test

A PCR machine

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How is COVID-19 diagnosed?

  • Antibody tests:

​

  • These identify the presence of your body’s antibodies against the virus, which indicates that have been exposed in the past.

​

  • This is typically performed via a blood test.

A PCR machine

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Graphic and data obtained from https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus

Summary: The U.S. has performed cumulative tests equal to 22% of the population, which is more than many other countries, and less than a few.

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Summary: The U.S. has a much higher rate of positive tests than many other countries that perform widespread testing.

Graphic and data obtained from https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus

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Is COVID-19 fatal?

  • The vast majority of cases are mild.

​

  • Mortality rates are estimated to be 1-5%, but the data are very uncertain.

​

  • It is clear that older patients have a significantly higher death rate.

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Worldwide deaths due to COVID-19

Graphic and data obtained from https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus

on 4/6/2020

Summary: The number of deaths from COVID19 worldwide is increasing linearly. There is no way to know when the curve will begin to flatten.

​

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Graphic and data obtained from https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus

Summary: The most deaths from COVID-19 so far have occurred in the U.S., Brazil, Mexico, and India.

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Graphic and data obtained from https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus

Summary: The greatest death rates from COVID-19 are currently occurring in South America, followed by the U.S. and South America.

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Graphic and data obtained from https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus

U.S. deaths due to COVID-19

The U.S. passed 200,000 cumulative deaths on October 2nd, 2020.

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Graphic and data obtained from https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus

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Cumulative deaths from COVID-19 for every county in the United States.

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Graphic and data obtained from https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus

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Graphic and data obtained from https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus

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How does COVID-19 compare to other viral diseases?

Graphic and data obtained from https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus

COVID-19 is significantly more deadly than the seasonal flu, but much less deadly than MERS or Ebola.

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What are the treatments?

  • There is no vaccine. Work is underway to develop one, but a vaccine is unlikely to be developed before 2021.

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  • There is no anti-viral treatment specifically for COVID-19.

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  • Symptoms are managed using standard methods of care for viral infections.

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  • Antibiotics, which only treat bacterial infections, are not useful to treat COVID-19 or other viral diseases.

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How is COVID-19 treated?

  • Treatment depends on the stage of the illness.

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  • Most COVID infections do not require hospital admission.

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  • Immune suppression (steroids) may help people at certain stages of the disease.

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  • Anti-coagulation may help at certain stages.

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  • Antiviral drugs are in use as well such as Remdesivir and Interferon.

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How is COVID-19 treated?

  • Remdesivir is a COVID-19 drug developed by Gilead to treat Hepatitis C and Ebola (both RNA viruses)

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  • Remdesivir mimics the RNA base adenine (A)

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  • A key enzyme in the viral life cycle cannot distinguish the drug from the real base, which causes a breakdown in viral reproduction.

Remdesivir

Adenine

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How is COVID-19 spread?

  • The infection spreads from person to person via respiratory droplets, usually through coughing and sneezing.

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How is COVID-19 prevented?

Evidence shows that the virus can be spread even by people who show no symptoms and seem healthy but are actually infected.

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How can I protect myself?

  • Sanitize: Wash hands thoroughly and often with soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
  • Social distancing: Stay more than 6 feet away from other people.
  • Avoid touching your face with unwashed hands. Properly cover coughs and sneezes.
  • Wear a mask that covers your nose and mouth whenever you come within 6 feet of another person.
  • Monitor your symptoms and stay home if you are feeling sick.
  • Get your flu shot if you have not done so already.

Adapted from: American Society for Microbiology

Accessed at

https://asm.org/Press-Releases/2020/COVID-19-Resources

on 3/14/2020

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https://www.who.int/brunei/news/infographics---english

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Animated GIF:

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How do I keep from spreading illness to others if I am sick?

  • Stay home when you are sick.
  • Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
  • Regularly clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.
  • Call ahead to a healthcare professional if you develop a fever and symptoms of respiratory illness, such as cough or difficulty breathing.

Source: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/steps-when-sick.html accessed on 3/16/2020

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What are the prospects for a vaccine?

  • There are over 120 different types currently in development.
  • No one can say with certainty when a vaccine will be widely available, although it is likely to be in 2021.

Graphic obtained from https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01221-y

​

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Take-home lessons

  • COVID-19 is an infectious disease of the human respiratory system caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2.
  • The disease is almost always mild and causes fever, dry cough, shortness of breath, and fatigue.
  • Older people and other at-risk populations may develop life-threatening symptoms.
  • There is no vaccine or treatment.
  • Protect yourself by sanitizing, maintaining 6 feet of distance between people, and avoiding people and places known to be infected.

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Test your knowledge

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Take this free online quiz to see how well you understand the current outbreak (all answers are found in this presentation):

​

http://bit.ly/COVID19quiz

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Resources related to this presentation for educators:

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Helpful resources

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Helpful articles (should be freely available)

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Questions/comments?

  • Please contact SimonBiology@gmail.com with any suggested changes to this presentation.
  • ​
  • Or maybe just drop me a note to let me know if you found this useful!

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COVID-19

Eric J. Simon, Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Biology & Health Science

New England College, Henniker, NH

© This presentation is copyrighted (All Rights Reserved) by Eric J. Simon (2020).

This presentation may be freely distributed and used for educational purposes provided that this title page and copyright statement are included.

All images included in this presentation are in the public domain.

SimonBiology@gmail.com

This presentation summarizes important basic information on the current pandemic. It was written for high school and college non-science-major students/teachers. Feel free to use, share, and send suggestions for improvements.