Treatments & Therapeutics for Medical Professionals

Medical Professionals

Clinical Spectrum of SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection can experience a range of clinical manifestations, from no symptoms to critical illness. In general, adults with SARS-CoV-2 infection can be grouped into the following severity of illness categories:

Individuals should be considered for outpatient therapy for COVID-19 if they meet the criteria below:

Are symptomatic with mild-moderate COVID-19 illness AND
Have a positive SARS-CoV-2 viral test result, AND
Are at high risk for progressing to severe COVID-19 and/or hospitalization.

The NIH definition of mild and moderate disease is below:

Mild Illness: Individuals who have any of the various signs and symptoms of COVID-19 (e.g., fever, cough, sore throat, malaise, headache, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of taste and smell) but who do not have shortness of breath, dyspnea, or abnormal chest imaging.
Moderate Illness: Individuals who show evidence of lower respiratory disease during clinical assessment or imaging and who have an oxygen saturation (SpO2) ≤94% on room air at sea level.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides a list of risk factors and relative risk for severe COVID-19. Some of the most important risk factors include (listed alphabetically): age (risk increases with each decade after age 50), cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, chronic lung disease, diabetes, immunocompromising conditions or receipt of immunosuppressive medications, obesity (body mass index ≥30), pregnancy, and sickle cell disease. The likelihood of developing severe COVID-19 increases when a person has multiple comorbidities.

See the Decision Tree for Treatment of Symptomatic COVID Infection and below for additional details on these treatments, availability, and access in Shasta County.