Coronavirus Transmission, Vascular Dysfunction, and Pathology

Abstract

Volume 1(4): 1-4 Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has spread rapidly, to over 200 countries world-wide, and has caused unprecedented public health and economic crisis. This public health crisis is nowhere in the world greater, than in the most advanced nation, the United States of America. As of this writing, there are over 4 million reported cases of infection, and145,000 deaths. In some southern states, test positive rates are as high as 25%. Nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr Anthony Fauci has been on the news, constantly advocating, social distancing, facial coverage, hand washing, and other public health best practices. On the other hand, our expert from the Midwest, Professor Michael Osterholm of the University of Minnesota, initially advised us to hide from the virus,-“if the virus cannot find you, you will not get the disease,” Just this morning, he was on the national TV heralding the bad news, -the coronavirus will never go away, -“like HIV, will stay with us forever.” These days, no news is good news, and no one seems to agree on any news, related to the coronavirus; infection, transmission, disease progress, immunity or the severity. Individuals with pre-existing conditions, such as hypertension, excess weight, obesity, type-2 diabetes and vascular diseases, are at a higher risk to experience severity of this disease, than healthy individuals. In this guest editorial, we are going to discuss three specific areas of coronavirus disease; infection, transmission, vascular damage and pathology.