Without vaccination, approximately five percent of people infected with SARS-CoV2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, suffer respiratory failure requiring hospitalisation.
SARS-CoV-2 is the third novel coronavirus to cause human outbreaks in the 21st century, following SARS-CoV in 2003 and MERS-CoV in 2012.
An article in the Conversation details how researchers discovered that COVID-19 damages the lungs by attacking mitochondria. The article explains how a research team, assembled during the pandemic, recognised the mechanism by which SARS-CoV2 was causing lung injury and lowering oxygen levels in patients.
The team of 20 researchers at three Canadian universities has published their findings in Redox Biology, explaining how SARS-CoV-2 reduces blood oxygen levels. They hope that their discovery will translate into new medicines to counter future pandemics.
