COVID-19: Sign, Symptoms and Transmission

COVID-19, which is caused by SARS-CoV-2, was first reported in Wuhan, China in late 2019. Till date, over 12.1 million people have contracted the disease across 221 countries in the world. The global fatality rate is about 6.2% thus far, and as of May 26th 2020, the highest confirmed cases were recorded in the USA, Brazil, Russia, Spain, UK, Italy and France. Several attempts to fight against the virus are taken by the World Health Organization (WHO) as well as other health agencies in various countries with reported confirmed cases. The present study has reviewed COVID-19 with respect to the clinical symptoms and signs, as well as factors that could exacerbate COVID-19 condition and transmission amongst people. Recent reports and studies have found the disease status to be of the predominantly mild condition and to a lesser extent, a critical/severe status. COVID-19 presents several clinical manifestations with symptoms such as fever, dry cough, fatigue, dizziness, anorexia, headache, expectoration, dyspnea, chest tightness, abdominal pain, diarrhea and nausea. Studies have observed age, obesity, smoking and drinking habit, immune system condition, human selectivity and reactivity as factors that can aggravate the disease condition, while poverty, fake news, non-validated scientific claims, and perception/illiteracy have been reported as risk components that could enhance the transmission of the viral infection. This study concludes by suggesting the appropriate methods to combat the factors discussed.

Keywords: Co-Morbidities, COVID-19, Global Pandemic, Immune System, Public Health, SARS-CoV-2.