A Systematic Review and Treatment Algorithm for the Therapeutic Management of Coronavirus Disease in 2019 (COVID-19)

Abstract

The novel Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the likely cause of the 2019 
coronavirus illness (COVID-19) outbreak of infectious pneumonia. In December of 2019, it first showed up in 
Wuhan, China, and has since become a global epidemic. No particular therapeutic therapy exists for this condition 
at the present moment. Within, we comprehensively analyzed the current "state-of-the-art" of treatment modalities 
and suggested a workable therapeutic protocol for the management of COVID-19. Articles were acquired from 
Science Direct, MEDLINE, and Scopus databases to be used in the systematic review. There were 1060 papers 
pulled from various databases, but only 19 were thoroughly examined for this study. Available anti-viral medicines 
(n= 9), antimalarial hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine (n= 8), and passive antibody transfer therapy (n = 2) were 
the top three therapies utilized to treat COVID-19. The antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine has the best success 
rate of any therapy currently available. As a result, this medication is often used as a first line of defense against 
COVID-19. Combining the medicines lopinavir/ritonavir with interferon -1b and ribavirin is the second-line 
therapy. Remdesivir medication and passive antibody transfer therapy are third-line options. Our research, however, 
highlights the critical need for well planned randomized controlled trials, which would allow for a more robust 
comparison of the most popular treatment methods.