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Primary care management of the coronavirus (COVID-19)

South Africa is in the grip of a novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). Primary care providers are in the frontline. COVID-19 is spread primarily by respiratory droplets contaminating surfaces and hands that then transmit the virus to another person’s respiratory system. The incubation period is 2–9...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: Mash, Bob
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: AOSIS OpenJournals 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7577343/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32242438
http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/safp.v62i1.5115
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author Mash, Bob
author_facet Mash, Bob
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description South Africa is in the grip of a novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). Primary care providers are in the frontline. COVID-19 is spread primarily by respiratory droplets contaminating surfaces and hands that then transmit the virus to another person’s respiratory system. The incubation period is 2–9 days and the majority of cases are mild. The most common symptoms are fever, cough and shortness of breath. Older people and those with cardiopulmonary co-morbidities or immunological deficiency will be more at risk of severe disease. If people meet the case definition, the primary care provider should immediately adopt infection prevention and control measures. Diagnosis is made by a RT-PCR test using respiratory secretions, usually nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs. Mild cases can be managed at home with self-isolation, symptomatic treatment and follow-up if the disease worsens. Contact tracing is very important. Observed case fatality is between 0.5% and 4%, but may be overestimated as mild cases are not always counted. Primary care providers must give clear, accurate and consistent messages on infection prevention and control in communities and homes.
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spelling pubmed-75773432020-10-30 Primary care management of the coronavirus (COVID-19) Mash, Bob S Afr Fam Pract (2004) CPD Article South Africa is in the grip of a novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). Primary care providers are in the frontline. COVID-19 is spread primarily by respiratory droplets contaminating surfaces and hands that then transmit the virus to another person’s respiratory system. The incubation period is 2–9 days and the majority of cases are mild. The most common symptoms are fever, cough and shortness of breath. Older people and those with cardiopulmonary co-morbidities or immunological deficiency will be more at risk of severe disease. If people meet the case definition, the primary care provider should immediately adopt infection prevention and control measures. Diagnosis is made by a RT-PCR test using respiratory secretions, usually nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs. Mild cases can be managed at home with self-isolation, symptomatic treatment and follow-up if the disease worsens. Contact tracing is very important. Observed case fatality is between 0.5% and 4%, but may be overestimated as mild cases are not always counted. Primary care providers must give clear, accurate and consistent messages on infection prevention and control in communities and homes. AOSIS OpenJournals 2020-03-31 /pmc/articles/PMC7577343/ /pubmed/32242438 http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/safp.v62i1.5115 Text en © 2020. The Authors https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee: AOSIS. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.
spellingShingle CPD Article
Mash, Bob
Primary care management of the coronavirus (COVID-19)
title Primary care management of the coronavirus (COVID-19)
title_full Primary care management of the coronavirus (COVID-19)
title_fullStr Primary care management of the coronavirus (COVID-19)
title_full_unstemmed Primary care management of the coronavirus (COVID-19)
title_short Primary care management of the coronavirus (COVID-19)
title_sort primary care management of the coronavirus (covid-19)
topic CPD Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7577343/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32242438
http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/safp.v62i1.5115
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