Summary: The history of COVID-19, the disease course, and what treatments are being investigated
Speaker: Lindsey R. Baden, MD
Director of Clinical Research in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Director of Infectious Diseases at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Associate Professor at the Harvard Medical School
Video Editor: Kyle Swartz, DO
Key points
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The coronavirus likely originated from a wet market in Wuhan, China and since has spread rapidly person to person. A true spectrum of illness is difficult to differentiate as only more severe cases are being tested. Even a low severity of illness is worrisome in a globally naive population.
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COVID-19 case fatality rate increases with age. It is a biphasic illness with a viral and an inflammatory phase. The virus is highly contagious and difficult to contain as it has a large viral load in the upper respiratory tract, an infectious incubation phase, and a possible post illness viral shedding phase.
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There are no antiviral therapies currently with supportive care the only treatment. Many studies are underway to investigate therapies including Lopinavir-Ritonavir, Hydroxychloroquine, IL-6 inhibitors, convalescent plasma and more.
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