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19 changes: 19 additions & 0 deletions content/07.pathogenesis.md
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### Introduction

On January 21, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) released its first report concerning what is now known as the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) [@url:https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200121-sitrep-1-2019-ncov.pdf].
This infectious disease came to international attention on December 31, 2019 following an announcement by national officials in China describing 44 cases of a respiratory infection of unknown cause.
The first known cases were located in Wuhan City within the Hubei province of China, but the disease spread rapidly throughout China and subsequently around the world.
At the time of the WHO's first situation report [@url:https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200121-sitrep-1-2019-ncov.pdf], 282 confirmed cases had been identified.
Most of these cases were in China, but one to two exported cases had also been identified in each of several neighboring countries (Thailand, Japan, and the Republic of Korea).
One week later, 4,593 confirmed cases had been identified, spanning not only Asia, but also Australia, North America, and Europe [@url:https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200128-sitrep-8-ncov-cleared.pdf].
On March 11, 2020, the WHO formally classified the situation as a pandemic [@url:https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200311-sitrep-51-covid-19.pdf].
On April 4, 2020, the WHO reported that the global number of confirmed cases had surpassed one million [@url:https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200404-sitrep-75-covid-19.pdf].
{{csse_deaths}} COVID-19 deaths had been reported worldwide as of {{csse_date_pretty}} (Figure @fig:csse-deaths).

![
**Cumulative global COVID-19 deaths since January 22, 2020.**
Data are from the COVID-19 Data Repository by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University [@https://github.com/CSSEGISandData/COVID-19/tree/master/csse_covid_19_data/csse_covid_19_time_series].
]({{csse_deaths_figure}} "Global COVID-19 deaths"){#fig:csse-deaths secno=1}

The current COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, represents an acute global health crisis where symptoms can range from mild to severe or fatal [@url:https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html], can affect a variety of organs and systems, and includes outcomes such as acute respiratory distress and acute lung injury, among other complications.
Viral pathogenesis is typically broken down into three major components: entry, replication, and spread [@isbn:0-9631172-1-1 {chap. 45}].
However, in order to draw a more complete picture of pathogenesis, it is also necessary to examine how infection manifests clinically, identify systems-level interactions between the virus and the human body, and consider the possible effects of variation or evolutionary change on pathogenesis and virulence.
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### Conclusions

As with other HCoV, the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 is likely driven by detection of its spike protein, which allows it to enter cells through the ACE2 receptor.
Epithelial cells have also emerged as the major cellular target of the virus, contextualizing the respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms that are frequently observed in COVID-19.

Characterizing the rate of infection and fatality rates hinges on the availability of rapid and accurate diagnostic testing.
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However, serological tests provide population-level information for epidemiological analysis, as they can be used to estimate the extent of the infection in a given area.
Thus, they may be useful in efforts to better understand the percent of cases that manifest as severe versus mild and for guiding public health and economic decisions regarding resource allocation and counter-disease measures.

Understanding the fundamental organization of the human immune response to viral threats is critical to understanding the varied response to SARS-CoV-2.
The human immune system utilizes a variety of innate and adaptive responses to protect against the pathogens it encounters.
The innate immune system consists of barriers, such as the skin, mucous secretions, neutrophils, macrophages, and dendritic cells.
It also includes cell-surface receptors that can recognize the molecular patterns of pathogens.
The adaptive immune system utilizes antigen-specific receptors that are expressed on B and T lymphocytes.
These components of the immune system typically act together; the innate response acts first, and the adaptive response begins to act several days after initial infection following the clonal expansion of T and B cells [@doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2005.09.034].
After a virus enters into a host cell, its antigen is presented by major histocompatibility complex 1 (MHC 1) molecules and is then recognized by cytotoxic T lymphocytes.

In the case of COVID-19, there is also concern about the immune system becoming over-active.
One of the main immune responses contributing to the onset of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in COVID-19 patients is cytokine storm syndrome (CSS), which causes an extreme inflammatory response due to a release of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines by immune effector cells.
In addition to respiratory distress, this mechanism can lead to organ failure and death in severe COVID-19 cases [@doi:10.1016/j.jpha.2020.03.001].

### Molecular Tests

Molecular tests are used to identify distinct genomic subsequences of a viral molecule in a sample and thus to diagnose an active viral infection.
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### Conclusions

Major advancements have been made in identifying diagnostic approaches.
The development of diagnostic technologies have been rapid, beginning with the release of the SARS-CoV-2 viral genome sequence in January.
As of October 2020, a range of diagnostic tests have become available.
One class of tests uses PCR (RT-PCR or qRT-PCR) to assess the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA, while another typically uses ELISA to test for the presence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2.
The former approach is useful for identifying active infections, while the latter measures hallmarks of the immune response and therefore can detect either active infections or immunity gained from prior infection.
Combining these tests leads to extremely accurate detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection (98.6%), but when used alone, PCR-based tests are recommended before 5.5 days after the onset of the illness and antibody tests after 5.5 days [@doi:10.1001/jama.2020.8259].
Other strategies for testing can also influence the tests' accuracy, such as the use of nasopharyngeal swabs versus BALF [@doi:10.1001/jama.2020.8259], which allow for trade-offs between patient's comfort and test sensitivity.
Additionally, technologies such as digital PCR may allow for scale-up in the throughput of diagnostic testing, facilitating widespread testing.
One major question that remains is whether people who recover from SARS-CoV-2 develop sustained immunity, and over what period this immunity is expected to last.
Some reports have suggested that some patients may develop COVID-19 reinfections (e.g., [@doi:10/ghfgkt]), but the rates of reinfection are currently unknown.
Serologic testing combined with PCR testing will be critical to confirming purported cases of reinfection and to identifying the duration over which immunity is retained and to understanding reinfection risks.

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