A comprehensive review on COVID-19 with main focus on management and treatment options

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a novel coronavirus of the same family as SARS-CoV and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, has spread globally, leading the World Health Organization to announce it as a pandemic. The disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19), causes flu-like symptoms that may become severe in people at high risk. Infection is known to spread from human to human and through contact with contaminated surfaces. COVID-19’s main symptoms include nausea, cough, fatigue, mild dyspnea, sore throat, headache and gastrointestinal problems. Real time polymerase chain reaction is used as a diagnostic device using nasal swab, oropharyngeal swab, tracheal aspiration or bronchoalveolar lavage samples. Antiviral medications, steroids, IL-6 antagonist and respiratory support devices are the primary treatments being used to treat the condition. In addition, while several interventions have been suggested, quarantine is the only method that seems to be successful in lowering the risk of infection. The COVID-19 pandemic reflects the present generation’s major global public health issue, following the 1918 pandemic influenza epidemic. The pace and frequency of clinical trials conducted to evaluate possible COVID-19 therapies underscore both the need and capacity to deliver high-quality evidence even in the midst of a pandemic. Various vaccines have been developed which are in different phases and we hope to have a vaccine for the general population soon, as it could prevent the spread of the disease.