Management and Therapeutic Options for COVID-19: A Review

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative organism for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), originated in Wuhan, China and has now spread to most parts of the world. A pandemic of this magnitude has not been witnessed in more than 100 years since the Spanish flu in 1918. The major challenge for scientists and doctors worldwide has been to find a therapeutic intervention to prevent the spread and development of this disease. As more research is being done, the pathophysiology of COVID-19 has been explained, although no effective therapy has been found. Multiple drugs and therapies are under trials and a few have shown inconclusive results. The attempts have ranged from repurposing drugs to trying to develop new vaccines. Formulation of guidelines pose another challenge to the government and international agencies owing to the lack of data. These agencies have constantly released and updated guidelines based on new research and growing knowledge. In this review, we aim to compare and bring out the different international guidelines for management of COVID-19, along with a review of tried therapeutic interventions and their primitive results. The COVID-19 has been a major global health crisis that is overpowering most heath care systems and multiple agencies and research teams are trying to limit and manage this spread. Currently no effective treatment is available and guidelines differ regarding the drugs that can be used, which are mostly off-label.