ABSTRACT
To understand the Covid-19 pandemic, for those readers who are not familiar with the field of virology, this chapter starts with a short review on basic virology, how viruses multiply and how they cause disease (viral pathogenesis) with special reference to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. The author also addresses how to diagnose a SARS-CoV-2 infection in the laboratory and how the body fights and rids itself of viral infections. The development of Covid-19 vaccines and SARS-CoV-2 specific antiviral pharmaceutical therapies are also described. The chapter ends with a recollection of the genesis of The Public Health Agency of Sweden and how the previous Swedish infection control agency, The Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, in 2010 was replaced with an agency void of experts in virology.
