Epidemiology, causes, clinical manifestation and diagnosis, prevention and control of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) during the early outbreak period: a scoping review
Infectious Diseases of Poverty·
- DOI
- 10.1186/s40249-020-00646-x
- PMID
- 32183901
- PMCID
- PMC7079521
- OpenAlex
- W3011802905
- Study type
- Journal article
- Publisher
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC
- Article type
- journal-article
- Integrity
- current
Why this research matters now
The outbreak was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by WHO. The review synthesized rapidly emerging research to inform early outbreak response, though the authors note that higher-quality research was needed for effective short- and long-term public health management.
Structured evidence summary
Research question
This scoping review synthesized early research on the epidemiology, causes, clinical features, diagnosis, prevention, and control of COVID-19 during the initial outbreak period through January 31, 2020.
Study design
Scoping review following the Arksey and O'Malley framework, analyzing 65 research articles published before January 31, 2020.
Population and setting
The review covers the early COVID-19 outbreak originating in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China in December 2019, which had spread to 19 countries with 11,791 confirmed cases and 213 deaths by January 31, 2020.
Main findings
The virus was linked to a seafood market in Wuhan, though specific animal associations remained unconfirmed. Reported symptoms included fever, cough, fatigue, pneumonia, headache, diarrhea, hemoptysis, and dyspnea. No specific antiviral treatment had proven effective, with care relying on symptomatic treatment and supportive measures. Preventive measures discussed included masks, hand hygiene, avoidance of public contact, case detection, contact tracing, and quarantines.
Public-health relevance
The outbreak was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by WHO. The review synthesized rapidly emerging research to inform early outbreak response, though the authors note that higher-quality research was needed for effective short- and long-term public health management.
Important limitations
The authors note that more high-quality research was needed to provide valid and reliable management strategies. This summary is limited to the supplied single-article abstract and metadata; the original paper is required for decision-grade interpretation of the full scoping review methodology and detailed findings.
GIDS interpretation
This article would be discoverable through GIDS classifier links for COVID-19 and SARS diseases, China as the geographic focus, and topics including outbreak investigation, transmission dynamics, and treatment. It represents early synthesis literature from the initial pandemic period.
Related GIDS surveillance
Literature context does not validate, explain, or change a surveillance signal. Exact and contextual relationships are shown separately.
Evidence relationships
This article has 11 auditable classifier relationships to diseases, places, topics, and study design.