A scoping review of 2019 Novel Coronavirus during the early outbreak period: Epidemiology, causes, clinical manifestation and diagnosis, prevention and control

Abstract

Abstract Background: The 2019-nCoV has been identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China beginning in December 2019. This epidemic had spread to 19 countries with 11791 confirmed cases, including 213 deaths, as of January 31, 2020. The World Health Organization declared it as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.Methods: A scoping review of 65 research articles published until January 31, 2020 were analyzed and discussed for a better understanding of the epidemiology, causes, clinical diagnosis, prevention and control of this virus. The research domains, publishing dates, journal language, and authors’ affiliations, as well as methodological characteristics were analyzed. All findings and statements that are mentioned regarding the outbreak in this review are based on published information as listed in the references.Results: Most of the publications were in English language (89.23%). The largest proportion of articles were related to causes (38.46%) and majority (67.69%), and were published by Chinese scholars. Research articles initially focused on causes while there was an increase of the articles related to prevention and control over time. Studies thus far have shown origination in connection to a seafood market in Wuhan, but specific animal association has not been confirmed. The reported symptoms include fever, cough, fatigue, pneumonia, headache, diarrhea, hemoptysis, and dyspnea. Preventive measures such as masks, hand hygiene practices, avoidance of public contact, case detection, contact tracing, and quarantines are being discussed for reducing the transmission. To date, no specific antiviral treatment is proven effective, hence, infected people primarily rely on symptomatic treatment and supportive care. Conclusions: There has been a rapid surge in research in response to the outbreak of 2019-nCoV. During this early period, published research primarily explored the epidemiology, causes, clinical manifestation and diagnosis, as well as prevention and control of the novel coronavirus. Although these studies had relevance to the control of a public emergency, more high-quality research need to be conducted to provide valid and reliable ways to manage this kind of public health emergency in both short-and long-terms.