Comparison of SARS-CoV-2 (Coronavirus) with other Similar Viruses Based on Current Evidence

Shaghayegh Kianzad; SeyedAhmad SeyedAlinaghi; Ali Asadollahi-Amin; Omid Dadras; Amirali Karimi; Amir Masoud Afsahi; Mehrzad MohsseniPour; Alireza Barzegary; Pegah Mirzapour; Seyed Peyman Mirghaderi; Mohammad Amin Salehi; Zahra Pashaei; Zahra Nazeri; Farzane Behnezhad; Zoha Ali; Teyebeh Noori; Esmaeil Mehraeen; Jean-Marc Sabatier; Shayesteh Jahanfar

doi:10.18502/jimc.v5i1.9565

Shaghayegh Kianzad School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran ‎, ‎Iran
SeyedAhmad SeyedAlinaghi Iranian Research Center for HIV/AIDS, Iranian Institute for Reduction of High-Risk Behaviors, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Ali Asadollahi-Amin Iranian Research Center for HIV/AIDS, Iranian Institute for Reduction of High-Risk Behaviors, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Omid Dadras Department of Global Health and Socioepidemiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
Amirali Karimi School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Amir Masoud Afsahi Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego (UCSD), California, USA
Mehrzad MohsseniPour Iranian Research Center for HIV/AIDS, Iranian Institute for Reduction of High-Risk Behaviors, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Alireza Barzegary School of Medicine, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
Pegah Mirzapour Iranian Research Center for HIV/AIDS, Iranian Institute for Reduction of High-Risk Behaviors, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Seyed Peyman Mirghaderi School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Mohammad Amin Salehi Iranian Research Center for HIV/AIDS, Iranian Institute for Reduction of High-Risk Behaviors, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Zahra Pashaei Iranian Research Center for HIV/AIDS, Iranian Institute for Reduction of High-Risk Behaviors, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Zahra Nazeri Department of Health Information Management, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Farzane Behnezhad Department of Virology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Zoha Ali Iranian Research Center for HIV/AIDS, Iranian Institute for Reduction of High-Risk Behaviors, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Teyebeh Noori Department of Health Information Technology, Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol, Iran
Esmaeil Mehraeen Department of Health Information Technology, Khalkhal University of Medical Sciences, Khalkhal, Iran
Jean-Marc Sabatier Université Aix-Marseille, Institut de Neuro-physiopathologie (INP),UMR 7051, Faculté de Pharmacie,27 Bd Jean Moulin, 13385 Marseille Cedex, France
Shayesteh Jahanfar Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, School of Medicine, Tufts University, Massachusetts, USA

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/jimc.v5i1.9565

Keywords: Behavior, COVID-19, Gene expression, SARS-CoV-2, Sequence, Similarity

Abstract

The rapid spread and high mortality rate of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) have recently received worldwide attention. Understanding the pathologic features and behavior of this new virus can help control its spread. The present study aimed to compare SARS-CoV-2 with other similar viruses.

This study is a systematic review of current evidence conducted in September 2020. A search was carried out utilizing the keywords in the online databases, including Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, and Web of Science. The original peer-reviewed papers written in English that met the eligibility criteria were included in the final report.

In this study, we compared SARS-CoV-2 with similar viruses such as influenza, Zika, Ebola, HIV, SARS-COV, and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronaviruses (MERS-COV) in the features such as envelope structure, risk factors, duration of the disease, common symptoms, and treatments. Moreover, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has many similarities with the other viruses explained in the present study. However, there are still controversies about the virus’s behavior.

Although there are similarities between the abovementioned viruses, the scientific community should also pay special attention to distinct features of SARS-CoV-2, particularly the high probability of transmission in the human population, which causes substantial morbidity and mortality worldwide. Future studies are needed further to explore the biological and epidemiological behavior of this virus.