Could Nanotheranostics be the Answer to the Coronavirus Crisis?

The COVID‐19 pandemic is expanding worldwide. This pandemic associated with COVID‐19 placed the spotlight on how bacterial (e.g., methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus) co‐infections may impact responses to coronavirus. In this review the ways in which nanoparticles can contain and rapidly diagnose COVID‐19 under the umbrella of nanotheranostics (i.e., smart, single agents combining nanodiagnostics and nanotherapeutics) are elaborated. The present work provides new insights into the promising incorporation of antiviral nanotheranostics into nanostructured materials, including electrospun fibers with tailored pore sizes and hydrophobicity, namely “superhydrophobic self‐disinfecting electrospun facemasks/fabrics (SSEF).” SSEFs are proposed as smart alternatives to address the drawbacks of N95 respirators. The challenges of coronavirus containment are underscored, literature is reviewed, and “top‐five suggestions” for containing COVID‐19 are offered, including: i) preventive appraisals—avoiding needless hospital admission and practicing frequent hand washing (from 20 to 60 s). ii) Diagnostics—highly recommending nanodiagnostics, detecting COVID‐19 within 10 min. iii) Therapeutics—expanding nanotherapeutics to treat COVID‐19 and bacterial co‐infections after safety assessments and clinical trials. iv) Multipronged and multinational, including China, collaborative appraisals. v) Humanitarian compassion to traverse this pandemic in a united way. Antiviral nanotheranostics, including plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs), quantum dots, and polymeric NPs could concurrently diagnose and treat coronaviruses. Nanodiagnostics rapidly detect coronaviruses via color change, fluorescence, and electrical response. Nanotherapeutics combat coronaviruses via preventing infection initiation and viral replication, and inhibiting endosomal acidification. Electrospun nanofibers, namely “Superhydrophobic Self‐disinfecting Electrospun Facemasks/Fabrics” could traverse N95 respirators’ drawbacks.