Coronavirus:

new pandemia

Abstract

Considered an emerging infectious disease, the coronavirus pandemic, new COVID-19, arose in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China and arrived in our country on March 2, 2020. It spread rapidly throughout the world and caused thousands of deaths, which generated an avalanche of information not always truthful. This note tries to gather the evidence that serves the physician and the health team. COVID-19 is an RNA+ that belongs to the beta group of the Family Coronaviridae. The virus enters mainly by inhalation, it binds to receptors of the cells of the respiratory epithelium in which it replicates. The disease may be mild, but in older patients, especially those with co-morbidities, it can cause severe pneumonia. The case fatality rate appears to be higher than that of influenza. Medications that inhibit replication are under study, as are several vaccine protocols. This virus is not the only health problem due to infectious diseases or other non-infectious epidemiological causes in our country. Currently several diseases with similar clinical conditions and febrile syndrome currently coexist in the same territory, thus generating greater challenges for the physician when evaluating a patient. Thanks to correct measures taken early, in Argentina the number of cases is, for the moment, lower than in other countries. The instructions of the Ministerio de Salud and the World Health Organization must be strictly followed.