Authors: Peter P. Liu, Alice Blet, David Smyth, Hongliang Li
Published: 2020-04-15
DOI: 10.1161/circulationaha.120.047549
Source: Full article
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected health and economy worldwide on an unprecedented scale. Patients have diverse clinical outcomes, but those with preexisting cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and related conditions incur disproportionately worse outcome. The high infectivity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 is in part related to new mutations in the receptor binding domain, and acquisition of a furin cleavage site in the S-spike protein. The continued viral shedding in the asymptomatic and presymptomatic individuals enhances its community transmission.