Clinical Insights into the Pandemic of COVID-19: An Updated Review till the End of March 2020

摘要

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has emerged as a global public health emergency, which is characterized by high infection rate and fatal course, especially in vulnerable groups. COVID-19 is a worldwide pandemic that is caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). To date, the COVID-19 has affected almost 129 countries around the world, and there are 693,224 confirmed cases by the end of March 2020. SARS-COV-2 is contagious, single-stranded RNA, the virus that is mainly presented in different animal species. Patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection can present with a variety of presentations ranging from a mild form of flu-like symptoms to fatal pneumonia and respiratory failure; most common presentations of COVID-19 include fever, cough, fatigue, and to lesser extent diarrhea and vomiting. To date, there is no curative treatment of COVID-19, and the treatments of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection are mainly symptomatic treatment. The most commonly used drugs include empirical antibiotics, antiviral therapy (oseltamivir), and systemic corticosteroids [8]. In addition, potential therapies for COVID-19 are currently studied, such as neuraminidase inhibitors, remdesivir, chloroquine, and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in patients with SARS-CoV-2-related pneumonia. In the present review, we aim to present updated clinical insights about the current data regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.