COVID19 Clinical profile

Disease: Novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Disclaimer:

At the timing of writing, COVID-19 has been a known clinical entity for just over one year. 

This is an area of intense active research. 

The information presented herein is likely to change many times as new evidence is gathered and reported.

 

Causative pathogen

• Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
  

 

Symptoms

• Anosmia
• Pyrexia
• Shortness of breath
• Cough (dry)
• Chest pain
• Muscle ache
• Weakness
• Fatigue
  
• Abdominal pain
• Nausea
  
• Diarrhoea
• Confusion

 

Clinical manifestations

• Pneumonia
• Pleuritis
• Pneumonitis
• Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome
• Delirium
• Acute Kidney Injury
• Sepsis
• Septic shock
• Pneumatosis intestinalis
• Pericarditis
• Myocarditis
• Myositis
• Enteritis
• Infarction
• Stroke
• Myocardial infarction
• Hepatitis
• Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation

Differential diagnosis includes:

• Acute heart failure
• Hypersensitivity pneumonitis
• Influenza

 

Management

• Isolation / Quarantine
• Contact tracing
  
• Nasopharyngeal swabbing and testing for viral RNA by PCR
  
• Blood tests
• Chest radiograph
• Arterial Blood Gas analysis

Interventions

• Supportive management
• Oxygen therapy 
• Continuous Positive Airway Pressure
• Prone positioning
• Intubation
• Mechanical ventilation
• Anti-coagulation therapy
• Anti-inflammatory therapy
  
• Corticosteroid treatment may reduce mortality in the population with severe disease.
• Intravenous infusions of tocilizumab OR sarilumab may reduce mortality in the population with severe disease.
• Vitamin D supplementation may reduce morbidity and mortality.
• Antibiotic therapy may help to reduce any element of opportunistic bacterial infections (e.g. viral pneumonia with secondary bacterial pneumonia).