COVID-19, Modern Pandemic: A Systematic Review From Front-Line Health Care Providers’ Perspective

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 caused infection in 168,000 cases worldwide in about 148 countries and killed more than 6,610 people around the world as of March 16, 2020, as per the World Health Organization (WHO). Compared to severe acute respiratory syndrome and Middle East respiratory syndrome, there is the rapid transmission, long incubation period, and disease containment is becoming extremely difficult. The main aim of this systematic review is to provide a comprehensive clinical summary of all the available data from high-quality research articles relevant to the epidemiology, demographics, trends in hospitalization and outcomes, clinical signs and symptoms, diagnostic methods and treatment methods of COVID-19, thus increasing awareness in health care providers. We also discussed various preventive measures to combat COVID-19 effectively. A systematic and protocol-driven approach is needed to contain this disease, which was declared as a global pandemic on March 11, 2020, by the WHO. Literature Search MethodsWe conducted a systematic search of published articles from PubMed, google scholar databases and in-press literature from google search engine through snowballing. There were two independent reviewers, each focusing on COVID-19, novel coronavirus (nCoV), SARS and MERS, and third independent reviewer to resolve any conflicting article of interest. We used the keywords as mentioned above and after stringent exclusion criteria, a total of 58 articles, including reports from the trusted newspapers and websites. Most of the articles were single case reports, multiple case studies and systematic reviews (11 retrospective studies, one meta-analysis, three systematic reviews, six case series, five case reports, five newspapers, 24 science research articles, and rest 3 reference's from official websites). EpidemiologyThe initial cases were strongly associated with the Huanan seafood market, in which exotic animals were sold for food [3]. According to Lu et al, the virus (termed SARS-CoV-2) shares 88% sequence identity to two coronaviruses found in bats, bat-

Presenting characteristics, comorbidities, and outcomes of patients coinfected with COVID‐19 and Mycoplasma pneumoniae in the USA

“…All the patients in this study had both COVID‐19 PCR and mycoplasma serologies positive. All the inflammatory markers were elevated, including IL‐6, CRP, ESR, and serum ferritin, LDH, D‐dimer that have been consistent with prior reported COVID‐19 13,14 . All the patients had lymphopenia, which is typical of viral infections 13 .…”

“…There is no effective proven therapy for COVID‐19 as of now, and supportive care is a vital aspect of care. Many treatment strategies have been utilized like hydroxychloroquine, remdesivir, azithromycin, lopinavir/ritonavir, and tocilizumab 13,20 . The first‐line therapies for M. pneumoniae are macrolides, tetracyclines, and fluoroquinolones 21‐23 .…”

Co-infection with Influenza A and COVID-19

“…The lung is the main organ affected, which can result in respiratory failure. The disease can also present with atypical symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea [1] . Influenza in the USA occurs mainly during winter, and the burden of disease is determined by several factors, including the effectiveness of the vaccine that season, the characteristics of the circulating viruses, and how long the season lasts.…”

“…COVID-19 can simultaneously present with other infections such as influenza, and it can be hard to distinguish the symptoms of the two conditions from each other. However, there are differences and these are summarized in Table 3 [1] . A study by Xing et al analysed common respiratory pathogens presenting as co-infections with COVID-19 from Quingdao and Wuhan.…”

“…COVID-19, also called severe acute respiratory distress syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), originated in Wuhan, China. It has caused significant morbidity and mortality worldwide and has been declared a global pandemic by the WHO [1] . The USA currently has the highest number of positive cases and the highest number of deaths globally as the disease continues to spread across the country [2] .…”