COVID-19, a worldwide public health emergency

M Palacios Cruz; E Santos; M A Velázquez Cervantes; M León Juárez

doi:10.1016/j.rce.2020.03.001

COVID-19, a worldwide public health emergency

Rev Clin Esp. 2021 Jan;221(1):55-61. doi: 10.1016/j.rce.2020.03.001. Epub 2020 Mar 20.

[Article in English, Spanish]

Authors

M Palacios Cruz¹, E Santos², M A Velázquez Cervantes³, M León Juárez⁴

Affiliations

¹ Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Veracruzana, Veracruz, México.
² Department of Neurosurgery, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Alemania.
³ Departamento de Inmunobioquímica, Laboratorio de Virología Perinatal, Instituto Nacional de Perinatología, Ciudad de México, México.
⁴ Departamento de Inmunobioquímica, Laboratorio de Virología Perinatal, Instituto Nacional de Perinatología, Ciudad de México, México. Electronic address: moisesleoninper@gmail.com.

Abstract

A new coronavirus outbreak emerged on the 31^st of December 2019 in Wuhan, China, causing commotion among the medical community and the rest of the world. This new species of coronavirus has been termed 2019-nCoV and has caused a considerable number of cases of infection and deaths in China and, to a growing degree, beyond China, becoming a worldwide public health emergency. 2019-nCoV has high homology to other pathogenic coronaviruses, such as those originating from bat-related zoonosis (SARS-CoV), which caused approximately 646 deaths in China at the start of the decade. The mortality rate for 2019-nCoV is not as high (approximately 2-3%), but its rapid propagation has resulted in the activation of protocols to stop its spread. This pathogen has the potential to become a pandemic. It is therefore vital to follow the personal care recommendations issued by the World Health Organisation.

Keywords: Basic reproduction number; Clinical condition; Coronavirus; Cuadro clínico; Diagnosis; Diagnóstico; Número de reproducción básico; Prevención; Prevention; Transmisión; Transmission.

Publication types

Review