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Coronavirus Vaccine Development : Coronaviruses

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Stephanie Trimboli
November 30th, 2015
Virology Research Paper Coronavirus Vaccine Development

Coronaviruses became prominent in the last 15 years after two human outbreaks brought them to society’s attention. In 2003 a coronavirus began infecting people in China. It was named Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and by the end of the epidemic over 8,000 people had been infected worldwide with more than 800 deaths (Weiss and Navas-Martin 2005). In 2012 a new coronavirus strain lead to another outbreak in Saudi Arabia. This virus was named the Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and more than one thousand cases were reported with 30% of infections resulting in death (Malczyk, Kupke et al. 2015). While these were not the first human coronavirus infections identified (HCoV-229E and HCoV-OC43 were identified in the 60’s), they were the first that caused anything more than a common cold, and therefore they caused public alarm (Graham, Donaldson et al. 2013). Research into the viral subfamily intensified in response and scientists elucidated more details about the replication, pathogenesis, and evolution of coronaviruses. The ultimate goal is to develop vaccines against the virus and prevent further death. To date, there is no available treatments or vaccines against MERS-CoV or SARS-CoV. Coronaviruses are a genus in the Coronaviridae family, which is in the order Nidovirales. They have a positive sense RNA genome 26-32 kb in

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