Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Jun;16(6):416-419.
doi: 10.1016/j.nurpra.2020.03.021. Epub 2020 Apr 10.

Coronavirus 101

Barbara Holstein

Coronavirus 101

Barbara Holstein. J Nurse Pract. 2020 Jun.

Abstract

COVID-2019 emerged from China in late December of 2019. It follows 2 other coronavirus outbreaks, the SARS-CoV and the MERS-CoV. Coronaviruses usually circulate among animals but sometimes can jump to humans. These 3 strains have caused severe disease in humans and global transmission concerns. Symptoms of COVID-2019 include cough, fever, and shortness of breath. Related illnesses can range from mild to severe to fatal. Primary care providers must be alert to respiratory symptoms they encounter that are associated with pertinent travel history, be prepared to safely screen, examine, and possibly test and/or report suspicions to the health department for further evaluation.

Keywords: COVID-2019; coronavirus; respiratory infections; symptoms; virus; zoonotic transmission.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. O’Neil J. Zoonotic infections in common household pets. J Nurse Pract. 2018;4:363–370. doi: 10.1016/j.nurpra.2017.12.025. - DOI
    1. Coleman C., Frieman M. Coronaviruses: important emerging human pathogens. J Virol. 2014;88(10):5209–5212. https://doi: 10.1128/JVI.03488-13 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Paules C., Marston H., Fauci A. Coronavirus infections—more than just the common cold. JAMA. 2020;323(8):707–708. https://doi:10.1001/jama.2020.0757 - DOI - PubMed
    1. de Wit E., van Doremalen N., Falzarano D., Munster V. SARS and MERS: recent insights into emerging coronaviruses. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2016;14:523–534. https://doi:10.1038/nrmicro.2016.81 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chen N., Min Z., Dong X. Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 99 cases of novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China: a retrospective study. Lancet. 2020;395:507-313. https://doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30211-7 - DOI - PMC - PubMed