Communication
Version 1
Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed
COVID-19 Pandemic: Can Maintaining Optimal Zinc Balance Enhance Host Resistance?
Version 1
: Received: 29 March 2020 / Approved: 1 April 2020 / Online: 1 April 2020 (09:30:36 CEST)
A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.
Abstract
The novel coronavirus, COVID-19 is now officially declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), and most parts of the world are taking drastic measures to restrict human movements to contain the infection. Like millions of others around the world, I am wondering, is there anything that could be done, other than keeping high personal hygiene, and be vigilant of symptoms, to reduce the chances of infection, or at least to reduce the burden of the disease. So far, the National and International health agencies, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the WHO have provided clear guidelines for both preventive and treatment suggestions. In this opinion-based article, I want to discuss, why keeping the adequate micronutrient balance might enhance the host response and be protective of viral infections. A detailed in-depth discussion of various micronutrients is not the purpose of this article, I will mostly emphasize on the role of zinc in viral infection.
Keywords
zinc; antiviral; COVID-19; pandemic; host resistance
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Virology
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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