A Comprehensive Review of Pathogenesis, Clinical Manifestations, Complications, Diagnosis, and Investigational Therapeutics of COVID-19

Author's: Asfa Ashraf1,2*, Muhammad Naeem Iqbal2,3, Fakhar-un-Nisa Yunus4, Muhammad Asad Ali5, Shahzad Ali6, Mirza Imran Shahzad2,7, Mehwish Saleem8, Ali Muhammad9
Authors' Affiliations
1The School of Life Sciences, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350117, China.2Pakistan Science Mission (PSM), Narowal (Noor Kot 51770), Pakistan.3The School of Life Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China.4Department of Zoology, Lahore College for Women University, Lahore, 54000, Pakistan.5Department of Microbiology, 6Department of Wildlife and Ecology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore 54000, Pakistan.7University College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur 63100, Pakistan.8Department of Zoology, Govt. Post-Graduate Islamia College (W) Cooper Road, Lahore 54000, Pakistan.9Department of Zoology, University of Poonch, Rawalakot 12350, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan.*Corresponding Author: Asfa Ashraf;Email: sundausnaeem@yahoo.com
Article Type: Review Article     Published: Aug. 31, 2020 Pages: Online first
DOI:        Views 527       Downloads 0

Abstract:

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak started in early December 2019 in the capital city of Wuhan, Hubei province, People’s Republic of China, and is declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). Coronaviruses were identified in the 1960s and have recently been identified as the cause of a Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV) outbreak in 2012 and a severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003. The current SARS coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the most recently identified. We conducted a literature search in Pubmed, Scopus, and Google Scholar for the relevant articles that were further discussed. The most common sites of COVID-19 infection are the respiratory system and the lungs. Cardiovascular, liver, kidneys, gastrointestinal, and central nervous systems are also affected. Manifestations of COVID-19 include asymptomatic carriers and fulminant disease with a spectrum of clinical features from mild to severe life-threatening disease with major complications like severe pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, acute cardiac injury, gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhoea; and septic shock. The diagnosis of COVID-19 should be based on imaging findings along with epidemiological history and nucleic acid detection. Currently, no therapeutics have been found to be effective. Management is primarily supportive, with newer antiviral drugs/vaccines under investigation. This review discusses current findings regarding the pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, complications, diagnosis, and investigational therapeutics of COVID-19.

Keywords:

Coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, complications, diagnosis, and investigational therapeutics.

Citation:

Ashraf, A., Iqbal, M.N., Yunus, F.N., Ali, M.A., Ali, S., Shahzad, M.I., Saleem, M., Muhammad, A., 2020. A Comprehensive Review of Pathogenesis, Clinical Manifestations, Complications, Diagnosis, and Investigational Therapeutics of COVID-19. Int. J. Mol. Microbiol., 3(2): IJMM-2020-028.

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