Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): An Emerging Infectious Disease in the 21st Century

• Main Authors: Ahmad Tavakoli, Katayon Vahdat, Mohsen Keshavarz
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bushehr University of Medical Sciences 2020-01-01
• Series: Iranian South Medical Journal
• Subjects: coronavirus 2019; covid-19; sars-cov-2; coronavirus pneumonia; novel coronavirus
• Online Access: http://ismj.bpums.ac.ir/article-1-1222-en.html
• ISSN: 1735-4374; 1735-6954

Background: At the beginning of the New Year 2020, China alerted the world health organization (WHO) to a cluster of unusual pneumonia cases in Wuhan. After extensive speculation, eventually a new species of coronavirus introduced as the causative pathogen of the disease. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a name for the disease, and the virus that causes it is known SARS-CoV-2. The very rapid spread of the COVID-19 in China and in many other countries has caused fear among people across the world. The novel coronavirus outbreak declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 30 January 2020. Materials and Methods: Several databases such as PubMed, Scopus, Google scholar, and BioRxiv were searched for publications reporting on the novel coronavirus up to 29 February 2020. Literature searches were performed using keywords including “Coronavirus 2019”, “2019-nCoV”, “COVID-19”, and “SARS-CoV-2”. Moreover, websites such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were searched to retrieve updated data and statistics regarding the novel coronavirus. We extracted data on the epidemiology, pathogenesis, virology, clinical manifestations, transmission routes, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention measures. Results: From the 1416 articles identified in the initial search, 53 were remained after title and abstract screening. After full-text review, 37 articles were eligible to include in our study. Incubation period for COVID-19 is between 2-10 days, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The case fatality rate in patients infected with SARC-CoV-2 is 4.3%, and the results indicate that the mortality is higher in elderly individuals and patients with chronic conditions including patients with coronary artery disease, diabetes, chronic pulmonary disease, and hypertension. The mortality rate in healthy subjects is less than 1%. Conclusion: The outbreak caused by the novel coronavirus is larger than the previous human coronaviruses, showing that the SARS-CoV-2 is an extremely contagious virus. However, the mortality rate of COVID-19 is lower than that of other coronaviruses diseases such as SARS or MERS and other viruses like HIV and Ebola. Currently, due to the lack of an effective treatment and vaccine, the best way to deal with the COVID-19 disease is to prevent transmission and spread of the virus and to execute personal protective measures.