Leo Valentín, MD Profile picture
Endovascular Interventions | Vascular Interventional Radiologist | Ex NVIDIA Healthcare | @HarvardMed trained | Former @GOP Congressional Nominee | UPR JD '26

Feb 22, 2020, 19 tweets

Information on #coronavirus #COVID19 #CDC - A THREAD

Since the first reports of cases from Wuhan, a city in the Hubei Province of China, by the end of 2019, more than 76,000 cases have been reported.

Transmission risk is partially understood. Person-to-person spread is most likely via respiratory droplets--similar to the spread of influenza. However, airborne precautions are still recommended due to uncertainty.

Detection of viral RNA in asymptomatic patients with exposure has been reported. (Hoehl S et al & Zou L et al; N Engl J Med 2020

It is not entirely clear whether these asymptomatic individuals can transmit the virus to others. A recent case study in JAMA is reporting "the answer is apparently, yes" - reuters.com/article/us-chi…

The patient had not developed any findings on computed tomography of the chest, which is arguably our most sensitive imaging examination for the detection of pulmonary pathology--particularly lung parenchyma.

Incubation period has been reported to be 5-14 days following exposure but Chinese authorities have described a case of a man infected with coronavirus that did not show symptoms until 27 days later. reuters.com/article/us-chi…

Rounded ground glass opacities are noted on chest CT.

pubs.rsna.org/doi/10.1148/ra…

Frequency of selected chest CT findings as a function of time course from symptom onset. pubs.rsna.org/doi/10.1148/ra…

Pneumonia has been the most frequent manifestation of infection including fever, cough, shortness of breath and imaging findings as described above. Approximately 20% of patients have shown critical illness such as septic shock & respiratory failure/ARDS requiring ICU care.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) technical guidance: Surveillance and case definitions: who.int/emergencies/di…

Initial management: (1) focus on recognition of suspect cases, (2) immediate isolation, and (3) institution of infection control measures. When #COVID19 is suspected, infection control measures should be implemented and public health officials notified. #COVID2019

#COVIDー19 should be considered in patients with fever or lower respiratory tract symptoms who have within the prior 14 days traveled to China or had close contact with a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19.

COVID-19 virus is detected by PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and testing is performed by the CDC or a CDC-qualified lab. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=32…

Treatment consists of infection control and supportive care. Novel agents are being explored for antiviral treatment. Remdesivir, a novel nucleotide analogue that has activity against COVID-19 virus in vitro is being tested.

Compassionate use of remdesivir in the U.S. nejm.org/doi/full/10.10…

There's also been interest in the combined protease inhibitor lopinavir-ritonavir (used for the treatment of HIV). The use of this agent for treatment of COVID-19 has been described in case reports. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

jstage.jst.go.jp/article/bst/ad…

More than 80 clinical trials launch to test coronavirus treatments. nature.com/articles/d4158…

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