Department of Internal Medicine, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan.
Division of Infectious Diseases, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
Infez Med. 2021 Mar 1;29(1):20-36.
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative pathogen for the COVID-19, first emerged in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 and by March 2020, it was declared a pandemic. COVID-19 pandemic has overburdened healthcare systems in most countries and has led to massive economic losses. SARS-CoV-2 transmission typically occurs by respiratory droplets. The average incubation period is 6.4 days and presenting symptoms typically include fever, cough, dyspnea, myalgia or fatigue. While the majority of patients tend to have a mild illness, a minority of patients develop severe hypoxia requiring hospitalization and mechanical ventilation. Management is mostly supportive. However, several direct anti-viral agents, and immunomodulatory therapy with steroids and various cytokine blockers seem promising in early results. However, an effective vaccine has been established, which will help curb the pandemic.
严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2（SARS-CoV-2）是 COVID-19 的病原体，于 2019 年 12 月在中国武汉首次出现，到 2020 年 3 月，它被宣布为大流行。COVID-19 大流行使大多数国家的医疗系统不堪重负，并导致了巨大的经济损失。SARS-CoV-2 主要通过呼吸道飞沫传播。平均潜伏期为 6.4 天，常见症状包括发热、咳嗽、呼吸困难、肌痛或乏力。虽然大多数患者病情较轻，但少数患者出现严重缺氧，需要住院治疗和机械通气。治疗主要是支持性的。然而，一些直接抗病毒药物和免疫调节治疗，如类固醇和各种细胞因子阻滞剂，在早期结果中显示出有希望的结果。然而，已经建立了有效的疫苗，这将有助于遏制大流行。
