Coronavirus-associated disease in humans: From critical illness to vaccines

This dissertation is about coronaviruses and their impact on human health. It consists of 13 chapters, based on 9 scientific publications. In the introduction, I describe where coronaviruses come from and how they can adapt to humans. Then it goes on to talk about how COVID-19 could cause severe inflammation and blood clots in some people at the beginning of the pandemic. The last part is about how coronavirus infections in humans can be prevented by vaccination.
The most important research in this dissertation is about the MERS coronavirus, which was discovered in 2012. This virus causes severe pneumonia, and is lethal for about 36% of patients who become infected. Erasmus MC, together with researchers in Germany, has developed a vaccine against this virus, and tested it on healthy volunteers between the ages of 18 and 55 in Hamburg and Rotterdam. These volunteers experienced only mild side effects from the vaccine, and developed antibodies against the MERS coronavirus. This research is important because it prepares us for possible future pandemics.