Preface

In this difficult period of the SARS-CoV-2 (and its variants) infection responsible for Covid-19 diseases, the importance of scientific works and reviews dealing with these viruses has never been more essential and vital. This book brings together essential data regarding prevention (vaccination), detection, and various approaches (chemotherapeutic drugs and antibodies) to the potential treatment of coronavirus infections. It consists of six chapters concerning, (1) the effect of candidate drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine on QT interval in infected patients with Covid-19 diseases (chapter 1 by Aleem et al.), (2) the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), comprising the Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India, and Afghanistan (Chapter 2 by Kanwar et al.), (3) the humoral immune response in humans based on anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies to treat Covid-19 diseases (chapter 3 by Çalık1 et al.), (4) the antiviral potential of herbal-based immunomodulators (chapter 4 by Kumari et al.), (5) the various methods and strategies for diagnosing SARS-CoV-2 (and its variants) infection in hosts/humans (Chapter 5 by Narvekar et al.), and (6) the resistance to the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and related Covid-19 diseases within a population based on the pre-existing immunity of a high proportion of individuals as a result infection or previous vaccination (chapter 6 by Tiwari & Sahu). Such a book comprising a compilation of key data on SARS-CoV-2 and Covid-19 should certainly be a tool of crucial importance for researchers around the world working on these research themes, as well as for clinicians confronted to a growing number of patients with Covid-19 (data from 20^th April 2021: 141 million cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection worldwide, with over 3 million deaths).