Coronavirus: An invisible lethal terror

Abstract

There is a new public health crises threatening the world with the emergence and spread of 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) or the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus originated in bats and was transmitted to humans through yet unknown intermediary animals in Wuhan, capital city of Hubei province and a major transportation hub of China in December 2019. There have been around 22, 92, 93,200 reported cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-2019) and 47, 05,498 reported deaths to date (20/09/2021). The disease is transmitted by inhalation or contact with infected droplets and the incubation period ranges from 2 to 14 days. The symptoms are usually fever, cough, sore throat, breathlessness, fatigue, malaise among others. The disease is mild in most people; in some (usually the elderly and those with comorbidities), it may progress to pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and multi organ dysfunction. Many people are asymptomatic. Fortunately so far, children have been infrequently affected with no deaths. But the future course of this virus is unknown. Diagnosis is by demonstration of the virus in respiratory secretions by special molecular tests. Treatment is essentially supportive; role of antiviral agents is yet to be established. Prevention entails home isolation of suspected cases and those with mild illnesses and the treatment of patients with severe infection and symptoms is specially done at hospital that includes the treatment in ICU with strict control measures as per protocol guided by WHO. Few safe and effective vaccines discovered recently will prevent the illness after vaccination and save millions of lives. Beside this, wearing a mask, repeatedly washing hands and maintenance of social distance are the most important precautionary measures against COVID-19. The global impact of this new epidemic is yet uncertain.