Umgeni Water, Research & Development, Scientific Services Division, 7 Portland Road, Mkondeni, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Research Article
A 3-Month Preliminary Epidemiological Assessment of Some Factors Affecting the Human-To-Human Transmission of Causal Agent SARS-CoV-2 Virus for Infection Rates of COVID-19
Author(s): Manickum T*
Aims: A preliminary epidemiological study, based on three months of diagnosed cases and deaths for COVID-19, for the beginning of the pandemic, January to 31 March 2020, was undertaken. Factors that were considered to affect the human-to-human transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus were: spike protein structure, the effect of country average monthly temperature. The study also investigated the median age of the country for the subjects who died and the corresponding case fatality ratio (%CFR).
Findings: The presence of the furin cleavage site, the 10 to 20 fold binding affinity of the spike protein, compared to SARS-CoV, were proposed as possible reasons for the much higher cases noted for COVID-19 compared to the SARS disease. The optimum temperature for viral infection with SARS-CoV-2, for COVID-19, appears to be ± 0.07ºC; viral .. Read More»
DOI:
10.37421/2736-6189.2020.5.186
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