A NOVEL CORONAVIRUS THREATENS THE WORLD
description: A novel coronavirus (nCoV) was first identified amid a recent outbreak of respiratory disease cases in China, Wuhan City. This infection was initially reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) on December 31, 2019. One month later, the WHO declared the 2019-nCoV outbreak a global health emergency(1). The WHO named the disease caused by 2019-nCoV as COVID-19, an acronym derived from “coronavirus disease 2019”.According to WHO, “Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). A novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain which has not been previously identified in humans”(2). The recent emergence of COVID-19 in China raised many questions regarding risk factors in the general population, transmission patterns, clinical characteristics, efficient protection methods for health workers or in household and other settings. The medical world is also concerned about the most appropriate means to predict the future evolution of the disease and to limit human-to-human transmission, preventing also further international spread from China. The rapid identification of the new cases and close follow up of their contacts, together with preventive health measures for travelers may be useful methods to prevent a possible pandemia of COVID-19.In mid-February 2020, COVID-19 has been confirmed in more than 64,000 individuals (the majority in China) and has resulted in more than 1300 deaths. The respiratory infection has been reported also in other countries from Middle East, Europe, United States etc. The disease seems to be transmitted by respiratory droplets from sneezing or cough and is usually limited to close contacts with the patients, such as family members and healthcare workers. A more severe evolution was encountered in elderly patients, with comorbidities(3).There are no validated diagnostic tests fo…
creator: Camelia C. DIACONU
source: Archives of the Balkan Medical Union
publisher: Balkan Medical Union
date: 2020
language: EN, FR
identifier: DOI: https://doi.org/10.31688/ABMU.2020.55.1.XX
coverage: Medicine (General), Medicine