Open AccessDental Healthcare Professionals (DHCP) - How Competent are we to Battle the New Foe? The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)
Author(s) -
Hemalatha Ramakrishnan
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of communicable diseases/journal of communicable diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.151
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 2581-351X
pISSN - 0019-5138
DOI - 10.24321/0019.5138.202152
Subject(s) - virus , medicine , middle east respiratory syndrome , pandemic , pneumonia , outbreak , viral pneumonia , transmission (telecommunications) , ebola virus , virology , coronavirus , disease , intensive care medicine , immunology , covid-19 , infectious disease (medical specialty) , electrical engineering , engineering
The outbreak of a pneumonia like disease was reported in China towards the end of 2019. It was later found that, a novel Corona Virus (nCoV) was the causative agent. In January 2020, China shared the genomic sequence of this virus, which was similar to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus (SARS-CoV), and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus (MERS-CoV). This virus was named as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the pneumonia caused by it was called as Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic owing to the uncontrolled spread and the threat caused by the virus. Thereafter, the rapid spread of COVID-19, keeps continuing to cause chaos and catastrophe to mankind. Though mortality ranges about 1-3%, with mild variations worldwide, the rate of infectivity is much higher than SARS-CoV. The understanding on the pathogenesis of this virus remains mysterious and unclear. As frontline warriors against the COVID-19 battle, Healthcare Professionals, are more susceptible to succumb to this disease. Dental healthcare professionals (DHCP), owing to a closer contact with patients, during dental operating procedures are at a higher risk of acquiring and spreading the infection due to increased aerosol production. This review, gives an insight about the structure, transmission characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 and the possibility of spread through aerosol. It also highlights the precautions and safety measures that need to be followed within the dental operatory setting.