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
Review
. 2020 Oct;60(10):893-898.
doi: 10.1007/s00117-020-00741-y.

[COVID-19: epidemiology and clinical facts]

[Article in German]
Christoph J Hemmer  1 , Hilte F Geerdes-Fenge  1 , Emil C Reisinger  2
Affiliations
Review

[COVID-19: epidemiology and clinical facts]

[Article in German]
Christoph J Hemmer et al. Radiologe. 2020 Oct.

Abstract
in English, German

Until July 31, 2020, about 17.6 million SARS-CoV‑2 infections and 680,000 deaths from COVID-19 were reported. SARS-CoV‑2 is most likely transmitted by droplets and probably by aerosols. Patients become infectious 2-3 days before the onset of symptoms, and persons with asymptomatic infections are also infectious. COVID-19 affects the upper respiratory tract, lungs (pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome [ARDS]), heart, liver, gastrointestinal tract, and other organs. SARS-CoV‑2 uses ACE2 a receptor to enter host cells. Vasculitis, endothelial damage, thromboembolic events and organ failure are accompanied by a massive cytokine response. Elderly people and those with pre-existing diseases are particularly vulnerable. An efficient antiviral therapy is not yet available. Severely ill patients may benefit from dexamethasone and early treatment of complications. Candidate vaccines are currently being tested in clinical studies.

Bis zum 31.07.2020 wurden weltweit ca. 17,6 Mio. SARS-CoV-2-Infizierte und ca. 680.000 Todesfälle aufgrund von COVID-19 gemeldet. SARS-CoV‑2 wird über Tröpfchen und wahrscheinlich auch Aerosole übertragen. Die Infektiosität beginnt 2–3 Tage vor Symptombeginn, auch asymptomatisch Infizierte sind infektiös. Die Erkrankung betrifft die oberen Atemwege und die Lungen (Pneumonie, akutes Lungenversagen [ARDS]), ferner Herz, Leber, Magen-Darm-Trakt und andere Organe. Das Virus nutzt ACE2 als Rezeptor zum Eindringen in Wirtszellen. Vaskulitis, Endothelschaden, Thromboembolien und Organversagen werden von einer massiven Zytokinantwort begleitet. Gefährdet sind vor allem Ältere sowie Personen mit Vorerkrankungen. Eine effektive antivirale Therapie ist bisher nicht verfügbar. Schwer kranke Patienten profitieren wahrscheinlich von Dexamethason und von frühzeitiger Therapie der Komplikationen. Impfstoffkandidaten befinden sich derzeit in der klinischen Prüfung.

Keywords: Acute respiratory distress syndrome; Cytokine response; Polymerase chain reaction; SARS-CoV‑2; Vaccination.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. ARD (2020) Tagesschau vom 10.04.2020. https://www.tagesschau.de/investigativ/br-recherche/ischgl-corona-101.html. Zugegriffen: 31. Juli 2020
    1. Arevalo-Rodriguez I, Buitrago-Garcia D, Simancas-Racines D, et al. False-negative results of initial RT-PCR assays for covid-19: a systematic review. medRxiv. 2020 doi: 10.1101/2020.04.16.20066787. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Beigel JH, Tomashek KM, Dodd LE, et al. Remdesivir for the treatment of Covid-19—preliminary report. N Engl J Med. 2020 doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2007764. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Böhmer MM, Buchholz U, Corman VM, et al. Investigation of a COVID-19 outbreak in Germany resulting from a single travel-associated primary case: a case series. Lancet Infect Dis. 2020;20:P920–P928. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30314-5. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bootsma MCJ, Ferguson NM. The effect of public health measures on the 1918 influenza pandemic in U.S. cities. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2007;104(18):7588–7593. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0611071104. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources