TITLE:
COVID-19: Transmission, Laboratory Diagnosis and Treatment Options
AUTHORS:
Ebidor Ufoumanefe Lawani-Luwaji, Augustine Oziegbe Akhogba
KEYWORDS:
COVID-19, Transmission, Detection, Treatment Options, Vaccine
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.7 No.6,
June
30,
2020
ABSTRACT:
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV2) the virus responsible for the outbreak of the 2020 pandemic at the Wuhan city in China belongs to the coronavirus family. While the disease rages, scientists are striving to discover drugs and vaccines to combat the virus. Person to person transmission has been the major source of transmission in respiratory droplets from an infected or an asymptomatic infected person to another and indirectly by virus contamination of objects. There has been no evidence of vertical transmission or transmission through blood and blood products. The virus can be detected in clinical specimens by electron microscopy, cell culture, real-time RT-PCR and next-generation sequencing. Therapeutic approaches to combat the infection have been supportive and preventive aimed at transmission reduction, but no specific drug candidate at the forefront for therapy. The race towards developing a vaccine for the disease has led to the discovery of 115 potential candidates. Databases such as Google Scholar, PubMed, MEDLINE and NCBI were searched to summarise the current state of knowledge to the global outbreak.