COVID-19: prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Recommendations of a multidisciplinary group.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: SARS-CoV-2 infection, which causes COVID-19, has impacted the entire world due to its extensive and rapid spread. In the last two years, more than 412 million cases have been confirmed, with more than 5.8 million deaths, as of February 14, 2022. OBJECTIVE(S) Integrate a series of recommendations based on the best level of evidence in prevention, diagnosis and treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection, including its new variants. METHODOLOGY: Review of different international guidelines and recent articles published in peer-reviewed journals. Issue recommendations based on the level of evidence and degree of confirmation established by the guidelines of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). The authors analyzed the selected articles and, based on their experience, summarized the most relevant to meet the objectives of these recommendations. RESULT(S) 200 articles were found, of which only 124 were selected that met the requirements to identify the level of evidence and degree of recommendation. CONCLUSION(S) Prevention through vaccination continues to be the best tool to establish protection mechanisms against the virus and substantially reduce hospitalizations and associated mortality. Although homologous vaccination is still the accepted reference pattern, the efficacy of heterologous schemes to avoid hospitalization and mortality must be considered. Monoclonal experiments, such as sotrovimab, have activity against the Omicron variant and the AZD7442 molecule that have shown high efficacy in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 in pre- and post-exposure conditions.Copyright © 2022 Comunicaciones Cientificas Mexicanas S.A. de C.V.. All rights reserved.