Confronting COVID-19: Issues in Hemophilia and Congenital Bleeding Disorders

Authors: Coppola, A., Tagliaferri, A., Rivolta, G. F., Quintavalle, G., and Franchini, M.

Publication: Semin.Thromb.Hemost.; June 2020

Affiliations: Regional Reference Center for Inherited Bleeding Disorders University, Hospital of Parma, Parma, Italy; Department of Hematology and Transfusion Medicine, Carlo Poma Hospital, Mantova, Italy.

Abstract: The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), emerging toward the end of 2019 in an epidemic focused in Wuhan, China, is responsible for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), which spread quickly throughout China and the neighboring Asian countries, and immediately after to virtually all countries around the world,[1] with ~ 3,000,000 confirmed infections and more than 200,000 deaths, so far.[2] Flu-like symptoms are the most common clinical presentation; however,15 to 20% of patients develop a severe form of interstitial pneumonia and respiratory insufficiency, up to need for intensive care and mechanical ventilation, with significant fatal outcome, particularly in those with advanced age and comorbidities.