The coronavirus pandemic has caused a sudden increase in hospitalizations of patients presenting with pneumonia and multi-organ diseases. It originated from the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This review aimed at discussing the latest research progress regarding the transmission, diagnosis, and treatment of coronavirus disease 2020. We searched PubMed, Science Direct, and Google Scholar using the search terms coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, SARS-CoV-2, COVID- 19 transmission, diagnosis, and treatment. We also briefly compared the COVID-19 and the other coronaviruses, SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, which emerged in 2002 and 2012, respectively. The most common symptoms reported in COVID-19-infected patients were fever, cough, fatigue, sore throat, and headache. Gastrointestinal symptoms, such as diarrhea and vomiting, were also reported in some patients. Most patients had mild symptoms, except the elderly and patients with chronic disorders. The nucleic acid detection in the nasal, throat, or other respiratory tract swab sampling by real-time PCR is the golden clinical diagnostic method of SARS-CoV2. Most patients had a normal or decreased WBC count. On the contrary, patients with chronic symptoms had a significantly high neutrophil count, D-dimer, blood urea, creatinine levels, and proinflammatory cytokines in addition to lymphocytopenia. Maintaining personal hygiene, wearing masks, social distancing, surveillance programs for testing suspected cases, early quarantine, vigilant contact tracing, and preventing healthcare-related transmission are key factors for stopping the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, there is no proven effective therapy against COVID-19. Remdesivir, lopinavir-ritonavir, lopinavir-ritonavir plus interferon β-1a, and hydroxychloroquine are used to treat COVID-19 patients. Additionally, the corticosteroid therapies, monoclonal antibodies, and the convalescent plasma also showed encouraging results.
Key words: Coronavirus disease, COVID-19, transmission, diagnosis, COVID-19 treatment
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