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World J Virol. Mar 25, 2021; 10(2): 62-68
Published online Mar 25, 2021. doi: 10.5501/wjv.v10.i2.62
Trends in the management of infectious disease under SARS-CoV-2 era: From pathophysiological comparison of COVID-19 and influenza
Masafumi Seki
Masafumi Seki, Division of Infectious Diseases and Infection Control, Tohoku Medical and Pharmaceutical University, Miyagi 983-8536, Japan
Author contributions: Seki M contributed to the data collection, patient care, handling of ethics issues, data analysis, writing of the manuscript, and funding.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Masafumi Seki, MD, Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases and Infection Control, Tohoku Medical and Pharmaceutical University, Fukumuro 1-12-1, Miyagino-ku, Miyagi 983-8536, Japan. m-seki@tohoku-mpu.ac.jp
Received: December 18, 2020
Peer-review started: December 18, 2020
First decision: January 7, 2021
Revised: January 16, 2021
Accepted: February 19, 2021
Article in press: February 19, 2021
Published online: March 25, 2021
Abstract

Infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has become a historic pandemic, and dealing with it is one of the most important aspects of infectious disease treatment today. SARS-CoV-2 has been found to have characteristic and powerful infectivity (ability to propagate) and lethality (severity). With influenza, primary influenza pneumonia from the virus itself is known to exist in addition to secondary bacterial pneumonia. With COVID-19, on the other hand, it is important to provide diagnosis and treatment while keeping acute respiratory distress syndrome and pulmonary edema (alveolar flood) from a similar cytokine storm, as well as severe angiopathy, in mind. The importance of complying with hand hygiene and masks in infection control remains the same as in previous general infection control measures and responses to influenza virus infections and others, but in the future, vaccination will likely be the key to infection control in the community.

Keywords: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Influenza, Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, Vaccine, Alveolar flood

Core Tip: We are focusing the differences and similarity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and Influenza, and review the characteristic pathophysiology and basic concepts of treatment and prevention for COVID-19. Primary influenza pneumonia is known to exist in addition to secondary bacterial pneumonia, however, pulmonary edema (alveolar flood) from a similar cytokine storm, as well as severe angiopathy should be considered in COVID-19.