Emerging COVID-19 variants and their impact on SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis, therapeutics and vaccines

Fernandes, Queenie; Inchakalody, Varghese Philipose; Merhi, Maysaloun; Mestiri, Sarra; Taib, Nassiba; Moustafa Abo El-Ella, Dina; Bedhiafi, Takwa; Raza, Afsheen; Al-Zaidan, Lobna; Mohsen, Mona O.; Yousuf Al-Nesf, Mariam Ali; Hssain, Ali Ait; Yassine, Hadi Mohamad; Bachmann, Martin F.; Uddin, Shahab; Dermime, Said

doi:10.1080/07853890.2022.2031274

Emerging COVID-19 variants and their impact on SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis, therapeutics and vaccines

journal contribution

submitted on 2024-09-08, 11:07 and posted on 2024-09-09, 06:21 authored by Queenie Fernandes, Varghese Philipose Inchakalody, Maysaloun Merhi, Sarra Mestiri, Nassiba Taib, Dina Moustafa Abo El-Ella, Takwa Bedhiafi, Afsheen Raza, Lobna Al-Zaidan, Mona O. Mohsen, Mariam Ali Yousuf Al-Nesf, Ali Ait Hssain, Hadi Mohamad Yassine, Martin F. Bachmann, Shahab Uddin, Said Dermime

The emergence of novel and evolving variants of SARS-CoV-2 has fostered the need for change in the form of newer and more adaptive diagnostic methods for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 infections. On the other hand, developing rapid and sensitive diagnostic technologies is now more challenging due to emerging variants and varying symptoms exhibited among the infected individuals. In addition to this, vaccines remain the major mainstay of prevention and protection against infection. Novel vaccines and drugs are constantly being developed to unleash an immune response for the robust targeting of SARS-CoV-2 and its associated variants. In this review, we provide an updated perspective on the current challenges posed by the emergence of novel SARS-CoV-2 mutants/variants and the evolution of diagnostic techniques to enable their detection. In addition, we also discuss the development, formulation, working mechanisms, advantages, and drawbacks of some of the most used vaccines/therapeutic drugs and their subsequent immunological impact.