Speech-language and swallowing management of COVID-19 patients: A Narrative Synthesis

The virus COVID-19 was defined on 11th February 2020 by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses as “Acute Respiratory Syndrome from Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)” (WHO 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic was declared by the WHO on 11th March 2020. At the beginning of 2020, the first cases were tracked in Italy, however the spread of the virus increased from February 2020 (ISS 2019). The clinical symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 range from flu symptoms to severe respiratory disorders associated with a fatal outcome (WHO 2019, Zhang Y 2020, Zhu N 2020). The management of the virus requires hospital network, including local and hub hospitals as well as health care professions. Speech therapists contributed to the management of patients with COVID-19 from acute to rehabilitative setting. This document aims to share the experience of the Italian speech therapists directly involved in the emergency, describing clinical features, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures relating to the management of dysphagia in patients with Covid-19.