COVID-19
Also known as coronavirus disease 2019, nCOVD-19, 2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease, Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2, Wuhan respiratory syndrome, severe acute respiratory syndrome type 2
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Starting in January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global health emergency; they declared the end of the emergency in May 2023.
AI overview
COVID-19 is a contagious disease caused by a virus called SARS-CoV-2 that began spreading worldwide in January 2020, prompting the World Health Organization to declare it a global health emergency in March 2020. The WHO ended the emergency declaration in May 2023, though the disease continues to affect people around the world.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Key facts
- Medical condition.name
- Coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)
- Medical condition.synonyms
- COVID, (the) coronavirus
- Medical condition.image
- Fphar-11-00937-g001.jpg
- Medical condition.image_size
- 310px
- Medical condition.specialty
- Infectious disease
- Medical condition.symptoms
- Fever, cough, fatigue, shortness of breath, vomiting, loss of taste or smell; some cases asymptomatic
- Medical condition.complications
- Pneumonia, sepsis, ARDS, kidney failure, respiratory failure, pulmonary fibrosis, CKS, MIS-C, long COVID, brain damage
- Medical condition.onset
- 2–14 days (typically 5)after infection
- Medical condition.duration
- 5 days to chronic
- Medical condition.cause
- SARS-CoV-2
- Medical condition.diagnosis
- RTPCR testing, CT scan, rapid antigen test
~76 min read
Article
65 sectionsContents
- Nomenclature
- Signs and symptoms
- Complications
- Cause
- Transmission
- Virology
- SARS-CoV-2 variants
- Pathophysiology
- Respiratory tract
- Nervous system
- Gastrointestinal tract
- Cardiovascular system
- Kidneys
- Immunopathology
- Viral and host factors
- Virus proteins
- Host factors
- Host cytokine response
- Pregnancy response
- Diagnosis
- Viral testing
- Imaging
- Coding
- Pathology
- Prevention
- Vaccine
- Face masks and respiratory hygiene
- Indoor ventilation and avoiding crowded indoor spaces
- Hand-washing and hygiene
- Social distancing
- Surface cleaning
- Self-isolation
- International travel-related control measures
- Treatment
- Prognosis and risk factors
- Genetic risk factors
- Blood group
- Children
- Long-term effects
- Immunity
- Mortality
- Case fatality rate
- Infection fatality rate
- Estimates
- Earlier estimates of IFR
- Sex differences
- Ethnic differences
- Comorbidities
- History
- Misinformation
- Other species
- Research
- Transmission and prevention research
- Treatment-related research
- Cytokine storm
- Passive antibodies
- Bioethics
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
- Health agencies
- Directories
- Medical journals
- Treatment guidelines
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Starting in January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global health emergency; they declared the end of the emergency in May 2023.
The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever, fatigue, cough, breathing difficulties, loss of smell, and loss of taste. Symptoms may begin one to 14 days after exposure to the virus. At least a third of people who are infected do not develop noticeable symptoms. Of those who develop symptoms noticeable enough to be classified as patients, most (81%) develop mild to moderate symptoms (up to mild pneumonia), while 14% develop severe symptoms (dyspnea, hypoxia, or more than 50% lung involvement on imaging), and 5% develop critical symptoms (respiratory failure, shock, or multiorgan dysfunction). Older people have a higher risk of developing severe symptoms and dying. Some people experience persistent symptoms (long COVID), for months or years after infection, including fatigue, cognitive issues and shortness of breath. Damage to organs has been observed in a subset.