Recent Understandings Toward Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): From Bench to Bedside

Abstract

In late December 2019, an unprecedented outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (previously named 2019-nCoV) in Wuhan became the most challenging health emergency. Since its rapid spread in China and many other countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) on 30th January 2020 and a pandemic on 11th March 2020. Thousands of people have died, and there are currently no vaccines or specific antiviral drugs for COVID-19. Therefore, it is critical to have a comprehensive understanding of the virus. In this review, we highlight the etiology, epidemiology, pathogenesis and pathology, clinical characteristics, diagnosis, clinical management, prognosis, infection control and prevention of COVID-19 based on recent studies.

Keywords: 2019-nCoV; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; health emergency; review.

Figure 1

Schematic of cell entry of SARS-CoV-2. When the trimeric S proteins of SARS-CoV-2 binds to the cellular receptor ACE2, the cellular serine protease TMPRSS2, which's for S protein priming, entails S protein cleavage at the S1/S2 and the S2' site to facilitates fusion of viral envelop and host cell membranes.