Table 1.

Characteristics, similarities and differences among three coronaviruses [7,9].

	SARS-CoV-2	SARS-CoV	MERS-CoV
Mode of transmission	Droplet, aerosol, contact	Droplet, aerosol, contact	Droplet, aerosol, contact
Reproductive number (Ro)	3.1	0.58	0.69
Median incubation period	5 days	4 days	5.2 days
Cell entry receptors	ACE2	ACE2	Dipeptidyl peptidase 4
Disease course	diphasic	diphasic	Rapidly progressive
ARDS	18–30%	20%	20–30%
Imaging lung findings	Ground glass opacities, bilateral, multifocal, peripheral distribution	Ground glass opacities, unilateral focal and bilateral, multifocal, peripheral distribution	Ground glass opacities isolated unilateral and bilateral, multifocal, peripheral distribution
Lung pathology	Diffuse congestions with partly hemorrhagic necrosis	Edematous lungs with diffuse congestion and consolidation areas	Edematous lungs with consolidation
Acute kidney injury	3%	6.7%	41–50%
Fatality	1–3.5%	9.5%	34.4%
Antiviral treatments (reduce replication)	Remdesivir Favipiravir	Ribavirin Interferons Lopinavir and ribavirin	Ribavirin and interferon-a2a
Immunological treatments	Dexamethasone in SatO2 < 94% IL-1 inhibition IL-6 inhibition Janus kinase inhibition	Methylprednisolone controversial (interferons plus corticosteroids to reduce disease-associated impaired oxygen saturation)	(-)