Abstract
Coronavirus is an RNA virus, which attacks the respiratory system causing complications including severe respiratory distress and pneumonia and many other symptoms. Recently, a novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak emerged in Wuhan, which caused a significant number of infections in China and resulted in a global pandemic. The main aim of this study is to review and summarize the evidence regarding the supportive role of physical rehabilitation techniques in managing COVID-19-associated pneumonia. In this review, we also emphasize the use of rehabilitation techniques in the management of pneumonia in COVID-19-infected patients. Based on the evidence presented, we conclude that certain physical rehabilitation techniques and modalities could be of great support in the management of COVID-19-associated pneumonia. The safety of staff and patients when applying rehabilitation intervention requires attention. The combination of physical rehabilitation and medical treatment would result in improved treatment outcomes, faster recovery, and shorter hospital stay. Many rehabilitation techniques are safe and feasible and can be easily incorporated into the management protocol of COVID-19 victims. Decisions of early rehabilitation induction should be based on the patient's medical condition and tolerability.
Highlights
Coronaviruses are crown-like enveloped viruses which belong to the Coronaviridae family [1, 2]
In 2012, MERS-CoV had caused an outbreak in the Middle East and was named Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) [5]
The CoV genetic variations, frequent genetic recombination events, multiple animal hosts, and animal-to-human interface are increasing the chances of the emergence of novel and more virulent coronaviruses [6]
Summary
Coronaviruses are crown-like enveloped viruses which belong to the Coronaviridae family [1, 2]. Six coronaviruses (229E, OC43, MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV, HKU1, and NL63) have been successfully identified [3] and can cause deadly infections in humans. A novel and more virulent coronavirus termed SARS-CoV-2 was identified in Wuhan, Central China, in January 2020 when an outbreak of pneumonia of an unknown aetiology emerged [7]. The outbreak of this novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19, has resulted in a global pandemic, and so far, 3,939,119 cases have been reported worldwide, with 274,917 global deaths (5/10/2020) [8]
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