Clinical characteristics of 3062 COVID‐19 patients: A meta‐analysis

Abstract

Objective:We aim to systematically review the clinical characteristics of Coronavirus disease 2019 .Methods: Seven datebases were searched to collect studies about the clinical characteristics of COVID-19 from 1 January 2020 to 28 February 2020. Then, meta-analysis was performed by using Stata12.0 software. Results:A total of 38 studies involving 3 062 COVID-19 patients were included.Meta-analysis showed that a higher proportion of infected patients were male (56.9%).The incidence rate of respiratory failure or ARDS was 19.5% and the fatality rate was 5.5%. Fever (80.4%), fatigue (46%), cough (63.1%) and expectoration (41.8%) were the most common clinical manifestations. Other common symptoms included muscle soreness (33%), anorexia (38.8%), chest tightness (35.7%), shortness of breath (35%), dyspnea (33.9%). Minor symptoms included nausea and vomiting (10.2%), diarrhea (12.9%), headache (15.4%), pharyngalgia(13.1%), shivering (10.9%) and abdominal pain (4.4%). Patients with asymptomatic was 11.9%. Normal leukocytes counts (69.7%), lymphopenia (56.5%), elevated C-reactive protein levels (73.6%), elevated ESR (65.6%) and oxygenation index decreased (63.6%) were observed in most patients. About 37.2% of patients with elevated D-dimer, 25.9% of patients with leukopenia, along with abnormal levels of liver function (29%) and renal function (25.5%). Other findings included leukocytosis (12.6%) and elevated procalcitonin (17.5%). Only 25.8% of patients had lesions involving single lung and 75.7% of patients had lesions involving bilateral lungs. Conclusions:The most commonly experienced symptoms of COVID-19 patients were fever, fatigue, cough and expectoration. A relatively small percentage of patients were asymptomatic. Most patients showed normal leucocytes counts, lymphopenia, elevated levels of C-reactive protein and ESR. Bilateral lungs involvement was common.

Clinical Features and Outcomes of COVID-19 in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Gastrointestinal symptoms were also present with diarrhoea being the most common one. As compared to the other studies (33,34,37,43,44), fever and cough had similar WPP, however, dyspnoea was found to be more prevalent in older patients as compared to the younger ones. Similarly, though diarrhoea has been noted as the most common gastrointestinal symptom in other studies (33,43) too, it has comparatively higher WPP in older population.…”

“…A marginal difference was observed when the subgroup analysis was done for patients in China (15%) and outside China (11%), which was not statistically signi cant. The published meta-analysis on COVID-19 has reported its mortality ranging from 3.1-5.5% (32)(33)(34)37). Hence, the fatality rate in our study is signi cantly higher, re ecting the poor resilience of older patients to COVID-19.…”

Olfactory Dysfunction in the COVID-19 Outbreak

“…Common laboratory findings include lymphocytopenia and increased values of C-reactive protein (CRP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), D-dimer, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). On chest X-ray or chest computed tomography, bilateral lung involvement was common [32,37]. Diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 is currently performed with reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (PCR-RT) testing for nucleic acid sequence homology in nasopharyngeal or throat swabs [38].…”

Herd immunity is not a realistic exit strategy during a COVID-19 outbreak

“…Common clinical COVID-19 manifestations include fever, cough, fatigue, expectoration, shortness of breath, dyspnoea, and muscle soreness 11 . The median incubation period is estimated to be 5.1 days (95% CI, 4.5 to 5.8 days), and 97.5% of those who develop symptoms will do so within 11.5 days (95% CI, 8.2 to 15.6 days) of infection 12 .…”