COVID-19 And SARS-COV-2 Infection And Virulence: Hypothesis I

SARS-COV-2 is the etiologic agent of COVID-19. There is currently no effective means of preventing infections by SARS-COV-2, except through restriction of population movement and contact. An understanding of the origin, evolution and biochemistry (molecular biology) of SARS-COV-2 is a prerequite to its control. There is no definitive answer as to the origin of SARS-COV-2. The evolution of SARS-COV-2 can be gleaned from a comparative study of its infectivity and virulence in different populations and environments. From an analysis of the infectivity and virulence of SARS-COV-2 in different parts of the world, it is submitted that there is no correlation between infectivity and virulence of SARS-COV-2. It is therefore hypothesized that SARS-COV-2 may be a rapidly mutating virus and identification of SARS-COV-2 strain(s) that has/have increased virulence is essential in the formulation of any effective vaccine or prophylactic that targets SARS-COV-2.