COVID-19: A RESPIRATORY INFECTION CAUSED BY NEW CORONAVIRUS: NEW DATA ON EPIDEMIOLOGY, CLINICAL COURSE, AND PATIENTS MANAGEMENT

At present time there is an ongoing pandemic of a new coronavirus COVID-19 infection caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus. The analysis of SARS-CoV-2 genome showed significant similarity to formerly identified coronavirus strain that caused a breakout of atypical pneumonia or severe acute respiratory syndrome in 2003. All group ages were vulnerable to the virus, but senior patients with multiple comorbid disorders were more susceptible to severe disease course development. Main clinical symptoms include fever, cough, and asthenia. Some patients develop shortness of breath and hypoxemia that can quickly (in 1 week) progress to acute respiratory distress syndrome, septic shock, metabolic acidosis, coagulation dysfunction, and multisystemic dysfunction syndrome. It is recommended to perform chest computer tomography in all patients for diagnosis establishment and in disease course follow-up. As chest X-ray lacks informational value, its use is unreasonable. In most cases pulmonary tissue changes are characterized with multiple areas of tissue induration called ground-glass opacity and interstitial changes. Unfortunately, at present there is no convincing data on effectiveness of any antiviral treatment. Constant monitoring of vital parameters and laboratory findings is required for timely detection of signs of severe course and complications development. The most significant factors of severe progressive disease course and unfavorable outcome are being studied. The present review includes available epidemiological data, characteristic features of diagnostics and clinical course, unfavorable outcome risk factors, and possibilities of etiotropic and pathogenic treatment and prevention.

COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, acute respiratory infections, new coronavirus, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2