HISTORY OF CORONAVIRUS AND MEDICINAL PLANTS AS CONTENDERS IN THE TREATMENT OF COVID-19 CAUSED BY NOVEL SARS-CoV-2

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the newest member in Coronaviridae family. It is a highly contagious and transmits through contact/droplets. Initial body response includes cytokine dysregulation (releasing TNF-α, TGF-β, IL-16, IL-13 and CXCL10 the pro-inflammatory cytokines) leading to over exuberant host response (failure of immune system). World Health Organization (WHO) declared it as global public health emergency outbreak as it engulfed almost whole world. The death tally increased suddenly since the first case was reported in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The quickly this pandemic shook the world, the expeditiously scientists and researchers started the work on taking the necessary measures of precautions and treatment, but so far there is no specific vaccine or drug discovered till date. Reason being, it is always very difficult to discover/launch the new drug against such deadly viruses in such a short time period, in spite of having platforms like 'Accelerated Vaccine Initiative’. The motive of the present study is to enlist the plants contenders for the treatment coronavirus or immune boosters.