COVID-19

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious respiratory and vascular disease. caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). First identified in Wuhan, China, it has caused an ongoing pandemic.

Common symptoms include fever, cough, fatigue, breathing difficulties, and loss of smell and taste.Symptoms begin one to fourteen days after exposure to the virus.While most people have mild symptoms, some people develop acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which can be precipitated by cytokine storms,multi-organ failure, septic shock, and blood clots. Longer-term damage to organs (in particular, the lungs and heart) has been observed, and there is concern about a significant number of patients who have recovered from the acute phase of the disease but continue to experience a range of effects—known as long COVID—for months afterwards, including severe fatigue, memory loss and other cognitive issues, low grade fever, muscle weakness, and breathlessness.

COVID-19 mainly spreads through the air when people are near each other long enough,primarily via small droplets or aerosols, as an infected person breathes, coughs, sneezes, sings, or speaks. Transmission via fomites (contaminated surfaces) has not been conclusively demonstrated. It can spread as early as two days before infected persons show symptoms (presymptomatic), and from asymptomatic (no symptoms) individuals. People remain infectious for up to ten days in moderate cases, and two weeks in severe cases. The standard diagnosis method is by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) from a nasopharyngeal swab.

Preventive measures include social distancing, quarantining, ventilation of indoor spaces, covering coughs and sneezes, hand washing, and keeping unwashed hands away from the face. The use of face masks or coverings has been recommended in public settings to minimise the risk of transmissions.

There are no proven vaccines or specific treatments for COVID-19 yet, though several are in development. Management involves the treatment of symptoms, supportive care, isolation, and experimental measures.