Introduction:

COVID-19 is caused by the new coronavirus that was discovered in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China in the late 2019.

Objective:

To describe the clinical-epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19.

Material and Method:

A bibliographic review was made from a total of 33 bibliographic references. Articles and information from international organizations such as WHO, PAHO and electronic publications on the topic available from INFOMED were used. The quality, reliability and validity of the selected articles were analyzed to carry out an adequate review.

Development:

The transmission of SARS-COV-2 from an animal source to the first human cases has not been confirmed. The most accepted route of transmission between humans is from person to person via the respiratory route, with an incubation period between 1 and 14 days. In most cases, it presents with a clinical picture corresponding to a self-limited upper respiratory infection with a variety of symptoms according to risk groups, presenting a rapid progression to severe pneumonia and multi-organ failure, generally fatal in the elderly and in people with presence of comorbidities.

Conclusions:

We are in the presence of a pandemic in which prevention is the most important means of combating it: to take the necessary measures to stop transmission, to achieve differentiated attention to risk groups, to carry out all relevant actions in order to identify and neutralize the foci of spreading and to get the population to join the health system of each nation and cooperate to combat this disease.

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