Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Jan 6, 2021; 9(1): 8-23
Published online Jan 6, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i1.8
COVID-19: An overview and a clinical update
Arunkumar Krishnan, James P Hamilton, Saleh A Alqahtani, Tinsay A Woreta
Arunkumar Krishnan, James P Hamilton, Saleh A Alqahtani, Tinsay A Woreta, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, United States
Saleh A Alqahtani, Liver Transplant Center, King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center, Riyadh 12713, Saudi Arabia
Author contributions: Krishnan A contributed to the conception, drafting the work and revising it critically for important intellectual content; Woreta TA contributed to the conception, revising it critically for important intellectual content and final approval of the version to be published; Hamilton JP and Alqahtani SA contributed to revising it critically for important intellectual content.
Conflict-of-interest statement: None declared.
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: Arunkumar Krishnan, MBBS, Doctor, Research Fellow, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 600 Wolfe Street, Hal 407, Baltimore, MD 21287, United States. dr.arunkumar.krishnan@gmail.com
Received: September 8, 2020
Peer-review started: September 8, 2020
First decision: October 18, 2020
Revised: October 30, 2020
Accepted: December 6, 2020
Article in press: December 6, 2020
Published online: January 6, 2021
Abstract

The outbreak of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19, previously known as 2019 nCoV) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in Wuhan City, China, has spread rapidly around the world. Most patients from the first cluster had an epidemiological connection to the Wuhan's Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market. Available evidence has shown that SARS-CoV-2 can be easily transmitted from person to person through close contact and respiratory droplets, posing a substantial challenge to public health. At present, the research on SARS-CoV-2 is still in the primary stages. However, dexa-methasone and remdesivir are appeared to be promising medical therapies. Still, there is no definite specific treatment, and the mainstay of treatment is still focused on supportive therapies. Currently, over 150 vaccines are under investigation. It is necessary to understand the nature of the virus and its clinical characteristics in order to find effectively manage the disease. The knowledge about this virus is rapidly evolving, and clinicians must update themselves regularly. The present review comprehensively summarizes the epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical characteristics, and management of COVID-19 based on the current evidence.

Keywords: Coronaviruses, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Epidemiology, Symptoms, Laboratory, Imaging, Treatment, Vaccines, Prevention

Core Tip: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging, rapidly evolving disease that spreads rapidly worldwide. Our understanding of COVID-19 is changing very rapidly, and the discovery of new findings occurs daily. So, clinicians must update themselves regularly. This review makes an effort to summarize the epidemiology, clinical manifestations, management of COVID-19 based on the current evidence.