HUMAN CORONAVIRUS INFECTIONS

Poorly-known virus: Coronaviruses, so named because of their sun-ray-l ike aspect, were discovered in the sixties. The biology of these RNA v iruses is complex and poorly understood. Known pathogens: Coronaviruse s are known pathogens in veterinary medicine, causing disease states i n several domes tic species. In human medicine, they can cause benign respiratory infections, but few laboratories include coronaviruses in their routine diagnostic tests. Suspected pathogens: There is some dat a in the literature suggesting coronaviruses might be implicated in mo re severe diseases including multiple sclerosis, necrotizing enterocol itis, and lower respiratory tract infections, particularly in infants. Improving diagnostic methods: Due to the lack of reliable and sensiti ve diagnostic techniques, it is impossible to date to correctly assess the medical impact of these ubiquitous and endemic viruses. Molecular biology techniques enabling detection of human coronavirus infections should be applied to verifying the suspected implication of these vir uses in diverse disease states.