Access to new resource related to the Covid-19 pandemic and coronavirus diseases added to PMWL
Resource provided by Grace Chebet
9 September 2020 – Kisumu, Kenya – Access to a new resource has been added to the PM World Library (PMWL) related to solving global human and social problems. The new resource titled “Coronavirus Diseases (Covid-19) Current Status and Future Perspectives: A Narrative Review”, is a paper by F. Gennaro, D. Pizzol, C. Marotta, M. Antunes, V. Racalbuto, N. Veronese and L. Smith. Published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health in 2020.
Human history is currently observing a very strange time fighting an invisible enemy; the novel COVID-19 corona virus. Initially observed in the Wuhan province of China, now fast spreading around the world. The 2019 Novel Corona virus infection (COVID 19) is an ongoing public health emergency of international significance. There are significant knowledge gaps in the epidemiology, transmission dynamics, investigation tools and management of the disease. Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an RNA virus, with a typical crown-like appearance under an electron microscope due to the presence of glycoprotein spikes on its envelope. Unfortunately, to date, there is not a global and standard response to the pandemic and each country is facing the crisis based on their own possibilities, expertise and hypotheses. Thus, there are different criteria for testing, hospitalization and estimating of cases making it difficult to calculate the exact number of people affected by the virus.
The main symptoms are; Fever Cough Dyspnea, Headache, Sore throat and Rhinorrhea. Respiratory droplet transmission is the main route and it can also be transmitted through person-to-person contacts by asymptomatic carriers. The WHO has reported an incubation period for COVID-19 between 2 and 10 days. However, some literature suggests that the incubation period can last longer than two weeks and it is possible that a very long incubation period could reflect double exposure.
There is no specific antiviral treatment recommended for COVID-19, and no vaccine is currently available. The treatment is symptomatic, and oxygen therapy represents the major treatment intervention for patients with severe infection. Home management is appropriate for asymptomatic patients. They need a daily assessment of body temperature, blood pressure, oxygen saturation and respiratory symptoms for about 14 days. There is a rapidly growing body of studies on this topic and hopefully it will help in finding an effective vaccine and the best practice for the management and treatment of symptomatic cases. Only once this pandemic ends, one will be able to assess the health, social and economic impact of this global disaster and we should be able to learn lessons especially in terms of public and global health for any future similar pandemics
To access this new resource, go to the solving global problems section of the library at https://pmworldlibrary.net/solving-global-problems click on either Pandemics or Disease response/ access to healthcare/ medical treatment, scroll down to resource. Free access, but please consider becoming a member. A trial membership for 30 days is free.
This new resource provided through the PMWL university research internship program; to learn more, click here
