Short Communication - (2020) Volume 6, Issue 3
Department of biochemistry, Government Medical College Doda, Jammu & Kashmir, India
Received Date: July 15, 2020; Accepted Date: July 25, 2020; Published Date: July 30, 2020
Citation: Bhat SA (2020) Coronavirus Disease-2019. J Intensive & Crit Care Vol.6 No.3:10. doi:10.36648/2471-8505.6.3.10
Copyright: © 2020 Bhat SA. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Coronaviruses are enveloped non-segmented positive-sense RNA viruses belonging to the family Coronaviridae. The human coronavirus infections are mild, the epidemics of the two β-coronaviruses, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) have caused more than ten thousand cumulative cases in the past two decades. There is a new public health crises threatening the world with the emergence and spread of 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). The virus originated in bats and was transmitted to humans through yet unknown intermediary animals in Wuhan, Hubei province in China during the month of December 2019.
Coronavirus, 2019-nCOV, COVID-19, Pneumonia, Epidemology.
Coronaviruses are enveloped non-segmented positivesense RNA viruses belonging to the family Coronaviridae. The human coronavirus infections are mild, the epidemics of the two β-coronaviruses, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) have caused more than ten thousand cumulative cases in the past twodecades. There is a new public health crises threatening the world with the emergence and spread of 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). The virus originated in bats and was transmitted to humans through yet unknown intermediary animals in Wuhan, Hubei province in China during the month of December 2019. Till date around 7,823,289 reported cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-2019) and 431,541 reported deaths till date. The disease is transmitted by inhalation or contact with infected droplets with incubation period of 2 to 14 days. The symptoms are usually fever, sore throat, dry cough, breathlessness, fatigue while many people are asymptomatic. Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) may progress to pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and can cause multi-organ dysfunction. Currently diagnosis is done by demonstration of the virus in respiratory secretions by special molecular tests like realtime reverse-transcription–polymerase-chain-reaction (RT-PCR), Radiological examinations (chest CT). Common laboratory tests like white cell counts and C-reactive protein (CRP) and measure symptoms can be used as preliminary screening at large scale after lock down the area or country. Treatment is essentially supportive; role of antiviral agents is yet to be established. It is paramount to implement infection control practices by infection source controlling, transmission route blocking, and susceptible population protection. Early preventive measures can be home isolation of suspected cases and those with mild illnesses and strict infection control measures at hospitals that include contact and droplet precautions. The worldwide impact of this Coronavirus new epidemic is yet uncertain.
The 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), officially named as COVID-19 by the WHO, has spread to more than 170 countries including China prompting the WHO to declare the disease as a global pandemic. Confirmed novel coronavirus cases have crossed 7,823,289 while more than 431,541 deaths have been reported across the world as Europe becomes the new epicentre of coronavirus. More than 80% of the global COVID-19 cases are currently outside China.
This new virus outbreak has challenged the economic, medical and public health infrastructure of China and of other countries especially, its neighbours. Time alone will tell how the virus will impact our lives here in India. More so, future outbreaks of viruses and pathogens of zoonotic origin are likely to continue. Therefore, apart from curbing this outbreak, efforts should be made to devise comprehensive measures to prevent future outbreaks of zoonotic origin.
Common laboratory tests like white cell counts and C-reactive protein (CRP) and measure symptoms can be used as preliminary screening at large scale.
