World Journal of
Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences

CURRENT EPIDEMIOLOGY, DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF COVID-19

Md. Aqib Ali Faraz, Sowjanya Mendem* and K. Sri Bharath

ABSTRACT

Novel Corona virus was first reported in Wuhan, Hubei Province of China, and was then classified as Severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus-2 (Sars-CoV-2) by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. Elderly patients with comorbitdities were primarily at risk due to the virus, but it is also known to affect the younger populations. The rapid spread of virus across the globe demonstrated human to human transmission of the virus through droplets or direct contact. This spread was also made possible by asymptomatic carriers of the virus. As of January 30, 2020 7,734 cases were reported in China and the virus had spread to 19 other countries, including-Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Japan, Singapore, Republic of Korea, UAE, United States, the Philippines, Canada, India, Australia, Germany, Finland and France. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, Hospitals admitting suspected cases of COVID19 should collect nasal and throat swab samples in one VTM tube and transport them to the nearest testing laboratory in cold chain. Current coronavirus diagnostic tests include reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), RT-PCR (rRT-PCR), real-time RT-PCR and reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP). The inhibition of cellular function and molecular pathways involved in the immune activation by Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and Chloroquine (CQ) enable their use in the treatment of Covid-19. Remdesivir is a recently FDA-approved drug for the treatment of Covid-19. It acts as a nucleoside analog with significant antiviral activity. As of July 2, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported 1,03,57,662 confirmed cases world wide and 05,08,055 deaths have been confirmed.

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