The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation
Woolley, Ann E.; Mehra, Mandeep R.
Abstract
In late 2019, the world began to confront the emergence of a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV2) infection and its consequent disease manifestation of COVID-19. The virus spreads stealthily by transmission through asymptomatic carriers and is associated with a high rate of contagion, with a R0 of 2-3 (average number of people who will catch a disease from one infected person), a 19% rate of hospitalization and a case fatality rate (in those with a confirmed diagnosis) of 1-3.5%.1 Stages of severity for this illness have been described with death preferentially afflicting the elderly with underlying cardiovascular risk markers or disease.2 In late stages, COVID-19 overwhelms its host by an aberrant hyperinflammatory response with resultant cardio-pulmonary and multisystem failure. At this time a vaccine is awaited, and therapy targeting COVID-19 is largely derived from anecdotal experience based on empirical suggestions from limited in-vitro data.
Keywords
Clinical aspects, diagnosis, treatment; Epidemiology