Gundu HR Rao*

Emeritus Professor, Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Director, Thrombosis Research, Lillehei Heart Institute, University of Minnesota, USA

*Corresponding Author: Gundu HR Rao, Emeritus Professor, Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Director, Thrombosis Research, Lillehei Heart Institute, University of Minnesota, USA.

Received: April 14, 2021; Published: April 28, 2021

  SARS-CoV-2 the most potent killer virus, which originated from Wuhan province of China, has created an unprecedented health and economic crisis worldwide [1-3]. At the time of this writing, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus-tracker, (coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html; April 8th, 2021) globally, 133 million (mil) individuals have tested positive to this virus, and over 2.9 (mil) have died. In the USA, which represents 4% of the world population, there are 31 (mil) infected individuals and over 562,360 Covid-related deaths. Little is known about the epidemiology of this disease in low- and middle-income countries. In a first of a kind review, Indo-US collaborators, conclude that, “Among 575,071 individuals exposed to 84,965 confirmed cases, infection probabilities ranged from 4.7 - 10.7% for low-risk and high-risk contact types. Case fatality ratios spanned 0.05% at ages 5 - 17 years to 16.6% at ages greater than 85 years [4,5]. According to a CNN news report, “A national (ICMR) survey of more than 29,000 people across villages and wards found, that about one in 15 people above age of 10, has antibodies against coronavirus. More than 63 million people in India, may have contracted Covid-19, according to the health authorities in India. Currently USA, India, Brazil, France, and Russia rank as the top five contenders for the highest number of COVID-positive individuals. As far as COVID-related deaths are concerned, USA, Brazil, Mexico, India, and the UK are the top five contenders. Since the time it was discovered in China to this day, the virus has mutated several times into highly transmissible and deadly strains. At the time of this writing the British, Brazilian, South African, and Indian double mutant strains are causing a havoc worldwide. Various research groups have carried out genomic sequencing of the COVID-19 virus and shared these sequences on public databases, including GISAID. Since majority of countries have done limited testing for SARS-CoV-2 virus, it is estimated that the incidence and prevalence of infection may be at least ten-fold higher than reported.

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