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Features, Evaluation, and Treatment of Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Marco Cascella  1 , Michael Rajnik, Abdul Aleem  2 , Scott C. Dulebohn, Raffaela Di Napoli  3
In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan.
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Book

Features, Evaluation, and Treatment of Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Marco Cascella et al.
Free Books & Documents

Excerpt

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly contagious viral illness caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). COVID-19 has had a catastrophic effect on the world, resulting in more than 6 million deaths worldwide. After the first cases of this predominantly respiratory viral illness were reported in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, in late December 2019, SARS-CoV-2 rapidly disseminated worldwide. This compelled the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare it a global pandemic on March 11, 2020.

Even though substantial progress in clinical research has led to a better understanding of SARS-CoV-2, many countries continue to have outbreaks of this viral illness. These outbreaks are primarily attributed to the emergence of mutant variants of the virus. Like other RNA viruses, SARS-CoV-2 adapts with genetic evolution and developing mutations. This results in mutant variants that may have different characteristics than their ancestral strains. Several variants of SARS-CoV-2 have been described during the course of this pandemic, among which only a few are considered variants of concern (VOCs). Based on the epidemiological update by the WHO, 5 SARS-CoV-2 VOCs have been identified since the beginning of the pandemic:

  1. Alpha (B.1.1.7): First variant of concern, which was described in the United Kingdom (UK) in late December 2020

  2. Beta (B.1.351): First reported in South Africa in December 2020

  3. Gamma (P.1): First reported in Brazil in early January 2021

  4. Delta (B.1.617.2): First reported in India in December 2020

  5. Omicron (B.1.1.529): First reported in South Africa in November 2021

Despite the unprecedented speed of vaccine development against the prevention of COVID-19 and robust global mass vaccination efforts, the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants threatens to overturn the progress made in limiting the spread of this disease. This review aims to comprehensively describe the etiology, epidemiology, pathophysiology, and clinical features of COVID-19. This review also provides an overview of the different variants of SARS-CoV-2 and the guideline-recommended treatment (as of January 2023) for managing this disease.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: Marco Cascella declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Michael Rajnik declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Abdul Aleem declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Scott Dulebohn declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Raffaela Di Napoli declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

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