COVID-19 – current clinical data and review of recommendations for otolaryngologists and dentists

Abstract

Despite multidirectional activities in the sphere of politics, health care and limiting direct interpersonal contacts to a minimum, the Covid-19 pandemic has covered the whole world and the number of new cases is rising exponentially. This demonstrates the considerable severity of the situation. The doctors and other health professionals are and will be at the forefront of the fight against the pandemic, being at the same time the group most at risk of infection. SARS-CoV-2 virus infection applies to patients of all ages, with a median age of 49–59 years. The most common complaints in patients with Covid-19 include fever, caught, dyspnea, general malaise and muscle aches. In the course of Covid-19 may occur pneumonia, which in about 20% of cases is moderately to severe and associated with respiratory distress. Important for otorhinolaryngologists are reports of smell and taste disorders. Post-infective loss of smell can make up about 30% of all patients with Covid-19. The confirmation of SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with symptomatic or epidemiological suspicion of Covid-19 are genetic tests RT-PCR. Biological material is usually taken from the nose or nasopharynx. The management of Covid-19 is symptomatic because there is currently no specific cure drug. There is a particularly high risk of transmitting infection from a patient to the physicians, who are treating diseases of the respiratory tract or perform any interventions on the upper and lower respiratory tract. Low-symptomatic first stages of the disease with high viral load mean that during a pandemic, scheduled examinations and procedures should be limited. During the examination of patients or their treatment, adequate full PPE protection is indicated, reducing the risk of accidental infection of the treatment team. For the treatment of patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection or requiring immediate treatment without the possibility of determining epidemiological factors Covid-19, full protection in PPE is obligatory.