Title:Clinical Spectrum, Geographical Variability of COVID-19, and its Implications
VOLUME: 1
Author(s):Md. Hasanul Banna Siam, Abdullah Al Mosabbir, Nahida Hannan Nishat, Ahsan Ahmed and Mohammad Sorowar Hossain*
Affiliation:Department of Emerging and Neglected Diseases (END), Biomedical Research Foundation (BRF), Dhaka, Department of Emerging and Neglected Diseases (END), Biomedical Research Foundation (BRF), Dhaka, Department of Emerging and Neglected Diseases (END), Biomedical Research Foundation (BRF), Dhaka, Department of Emerging and Neglected Diseases (END), Biomedical Research Foundation (BRF), Dhaka, Department of Emerging and Neglected Diseases (END), Biomedical Research Foundation (BRF), Dhaka
Keywords:COVID-19, clinical spectrum, geographic variation, pandemic, surveillance, asymptomatic
Abstract: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has triggered a worldwide unprecedented public health crisis. Initially, COVID-19 was considered as a disease of the respiratory system as fever and at least one respiratory symptom
was used to identify a suspected COVID-19 case. But there are now numerous reports of COVID-19 patients presenting
with myriads of extrapulmonary symptoms and a substantial number of patients are asymptomatic as well. Additionally,
there are significant clinical and epidemiological variations of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCOV-2) infection across different geographical locations. The updated research thus challenges the existing surveillance
system that is mainly based on fever and respiratory symptoms. As countries are coming out of lockdown to save economic
fallout, a revised surveillance strategy is required to effectively identify and isolate the correct patients. Besides, since developing countries are becoming the new epicenters of pandemic and there are limited resources for RT-PCR based tests, so
documenting the clinical spectrum can play a vital role in the syndromic clinical diagnosis of COVID-19. A plethora of
atypical symptoms also aids in guiding better treatment and remains as a source for further research. It is therefore crucial to
understand the common and uncommon clinical manifestations of SARS-COV-2 infection and its variability across different
geographic regions.
