Abstract :
From the beginning of millennium three, coronaviruses (SARS-CoV: 2003, MERS-CoV: 2012 and SARS-CoV- 2: 2019) emerged and caused outbreaks producing
considerable global health problems. Although these
three viruses have similarities especially regarding
clinical features, there are key differences between them
that limit the relevance of experiences from previous
crises (1). SARS-CoV-2 replicates rapidly in respiratory
epithelial cells, including the nasal cavity, bronchi,
bronchioles, and alveoli. Replication in the upper
respiratory tract results in transmission between hosts,
while replication in the lower respiratory tract results in
the development of lung disease. These three viruses are
zoonotic ones which spread from animals and have a
person to person transmission ability (2). AKI probably
via direct renal cytotoxicity through DDP4 receptors
which are largely represented in tubules and glomeruli is
more frequent with MERS than the other two ones (3).
COVID-19 generally has a less severe clinical picture,
and because of higher R0 can spread in the community
more easily than MERS and SARS, which has frequently
been reported in the nosocomial setting. Allah Kalteh et
al., in their report about mortality rate, case fatality rate,
and years of potential life lost of these three viruses,
showed that knowing this information is critical to
characterize the severity and understand the pandemic
potential of COVID-19 in the early stage of the epidemic.
They confirmed that despite a lower fatality rate and
because of the higher transmission rate of COVID-19, it
causes a large number of infected patients and more
deaths. They also showed that given that COVID-19 has
a non-fatal effect on a large number of patients, the
estimation of disease burden using the mentioned indices can be an appropriate way for future decision making regarding health policy.
