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Review
. 2021 Nov 11:12:761887.
doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.761887. eCollection 2021.

Coronavirus Disease 2019: Clinics, Treatment, and Prevention

Francesco Robert Burkert  1 , Lukas Lanser  1 , Rosa Bellmann-Weiler  1 , Günter Weiss  1
Affiliations
Review

Coronavirus Disease 2019: Clinics, Treatment, and Prevention

Francesco Robert Burkert et al. Front Microbiol. .

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), emerged at the end of 2019 in China and affected the entire world population, either by infection and its health consequences, or by restrictions in daily life as a consequence of hygiene measures and containment strategies. As of September 2021, more than 231,000.000 infections and 4,740.000 deaths due to COVID-19 have been reported. The infections present with varied clinical symptoms and severity, ranging from asymptomatic course to fatal outcome. Several risk factors for a severe course of the disease have been identified, the most important being age, gender, comorbidities, lifestyle, and genetics. While most patients recover within several weeks, some report persistent symptoms restricting their daily lives and activities, termed as post-COVID. Over the past 18months, we have acquired significant knowledge as reflected by an almost uncountable number of publications on the nature of the underlying virus and its evolution, host responses to infection, modes of transmission, and different clinical presentations of the disease. Along this line, new diagnostic tests and algorithms have been developed paralleled by the search for and clinical evaluation of specific treatments for the different stages of the disease. In addition, preventive non-pharmacological measures have been implemented to control the spread of infection in the community. While an effective antiviral therapy is not yet available, numerous vaccines including novel vaccine technologies have been developed, which show high protection from infection and specifically from a severe course or death from COVID-19. In this review, we tried to provide an up-to-date schematic of COVID-19, including aspects of epidemiology, virology, clinical presentation, diagnostics, therapy, and prevention.

Keywords: COVID-19; PCR testing; SARS-CoV-2; antigen tests; epidemiology; hyperinflammation; pandemic; transmission.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Pathophysiological course of the disease and phase-oriented treatment principles. Representation of viral loads and serological response during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Timeframe for disease severity as well as phase-related symptoms and therapeutic options.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Main organ complications due to COVID-19. Graphical representation of possible symptoms and organ damage caused by COVID-19.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Therapeutic options for COVID-19. Graphical representation of points of attack for available therapies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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