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COVID-19 for the Emergency Physicians: What You Need to Know

By Christopher Greene, MD, MPH; and David C. Pigott, MD, RDMS, FACEP | on March 10, 2020 | 5 Comments
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3D illustration of coronavirus COVID-19 under the microscope.

Dr. Green is assistant professor of emergency medicine and global health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Pigott is professor and vice chair for academic development in the department of emergency medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

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ACEP Now: Vol 39 – No 03 – March 2020

References

  1. 2019-nCoV Global Cases by Johns Hopkins CSSE. Johns Hopkins University website. Available at: https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6. Accessed Feb. 25, 2020.
  2. Bogoch II, Watts A, Thomas-Bachli A, et al. Potential for global spread of a novel coronavirus from China [published online ahead of print Jan. 27, 2020]. J Travel Med. doi: 10.1093/jtm/taaa011.
  3. Lee JW, McKibbin WJ. Estimating the global economic costs of SARS. In: Institute of Medicine (US) Forum on Microbial Threats; Knobler S, Mahmoud A, Lemon S, et al, eds. Learning from SARS: Preparing for the Next Disease Outbreak: Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 2004.
  4. Ignatius D. The Coronavirus outbreak shows the vulnerability of the ‘Chinese Model.’ The Washington Post. 4, 2020.
  5. Nkengasong J. China’s response to a novel coronavirus stands in stark contrast to the 2002 SARS outbreak response [published online ahead of print Jan. 27, 2020]. Nat Med. doi: 10.1038/s41591-020-0771-1.
  6. Berlinger J, Emiko J, Ogura J. Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan quarantined after passenger diagnosed with coronavirus. CNN World website. Available at: https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/04/asia/coronavirus-japan-cruise-intl-hnk/index.html. Accessed Feb. 10, 2020.
  7. Taxin A, Antczak J, Spagat E. CDC cites label error in mixup involving coronavirus patient. ABC News website. Available at: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/200-evacuees-leave-coronavirus-quarantine-us-68901452. Accessed Feb. 11, 2020.
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  9. Jiang S, He Y, Liu S. SARS vaccine development. Emerg Infect Dis. 2005;11(7):1016-1020.
  10. Koenig KL. Identify-isolate-inform: a modified tool for initial detection and management of Middle East respiratory syndrome patients in the emergency department. West J Emerg Med. 2015;16(5):619-624.
  11. Interim clinical guidance for management of patients with confirmed 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-ncov) infection. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/clinical-guidance-management-patients.html. Accessed Feb. 25, 2020.
  12. Siegel J, Rhinehart E, Jackson M, et al. 2007 Guideline for isolation precautions: preventing transmission of infectious agents in healthcare settings. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/infectioncontrol/guidelines/isolation/index.html. Accessed Feb. 25, 2020.
  13. Wang D, Hu B, Hu C, et al. Clinical characteristics of 138 hospitalized patients with 2019 novel coronavirus–infected pneumonia in Wuhan, China [published online ahead of print Feb. 7, 2020]. doi: 10.1001/jama.2020.1585.
  14. Gan N, Thomas N, Culver D. Over 1,700 of frontline medics infected with coronavirus in China, presenting new crisis for government. CNN website. Available at: https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/13/asia/coronavirus-health-care-workers-infected-intl-hnk/index.html. Accessed Feb. 13, 2020.
  15. Chung M, Bernheim A, Mei X, et al. CT imaging features of 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) [published online ahead of print Feb. 4, 2020]. Radiology. doi: 10.1148/radiol.2020200230.
  16. Biscayart C, Angeleri P, Lloveras S, et al. The next big threat to global health? 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV): What advice can we give to travelers? Interim recommendations January 2020, from Latin-American Society for Travel Medicine (SLAMVI) [published online ahead of print Jan. 30, 2020]. Travel Med Infect Dis. doi: 10.1016/j.tmaid.2020.101567.
  17. CDC 2019-Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Real-Time RT-PCR Diagnostic Panel. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. Available at: https://www.fda.gov/media/134922/download. Accessed Feb. 14, 2020.
  18. Li H, Wang YM, Xu JY, et al. [Potential antiviral therapeutics for 2019 novel coronavirus]. Zhonghua Jie He He Hu Xi Za Zhi. 2020;43(0):E002.
  19. Criteria to guide evaluation of persons under investigation (PUI) for 2019-nCoV. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/hcp/clinical-criteria.html. Accessed Feb. 24, 2020.
  20. Interim infection prevention and control recommendations for patients with confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) or persons under investigation for COVID-19 in healthcare settings. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/infection-control.html. Accessed Feb. 13, 2020.

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Topics: Centers for Disease Control and PreventioncoronavirusCOVID-19GuidelinesPersonal Protective EquipmentPublic Health

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5 Responses to “COVID-19 for the Emergency Physicians: What You Need to Know”

  1. March 15, 2020

    Nadia T. Reply

    What are the recommendations as to what to do with patients who have mild/moderate symptoms (not to a degree that requires admission) but are PUI due to possible exposure? Do we keep them in isolation in the ED until test results come back? Do you send them home to self quarantine? Also when these mild/moderate cases come back with positive tests results what do you do with them? Admit for isolation? Discharge to self quarantine?

    There seems to be a lot of sound recommendations for severely ill patients but not for those with mild/moderate symptoms…..any guidance would be highly appreciated.

    • May 13, 2020

      Cathy Byrd Reply

      Has acyclovir been used in the treatment for coved19?

  2. April 13, 2020

    Debra Grundman Reply

    Has Valacyclovir been trialed to treat Covid 19 ?

  3. April 15, 2020

    Dr Sanya jain Reply

    Why valacyclovir was not given to covid patient along with antihistamines

  4. May 13, 2020

    Cathy Byrd Reply

    Are the children who are getting this new disease up to date on there vaccinations?

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