Nutritional Advice El Mondo
Objectives:
What is the frequency of asymptomatic COVID-19 individuals and estimated occurrence by age group and gender?
Study design:
This review article included 16 studies (cross-sectional and observational cohort studies), comprising 2,788 SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) infected patients.
The studies were published between 1 January and 30 April 2020.
Most studies were from China (n = 11), 2 were from Japan and 3 were from the USA.
The funnel plot showed symmetry, demonstrating the absence of publication bias among the included studies.
Results and conclusions:
The investigators found the pooled prevalence according to the random effect size of asymptomatic cases was 48.2% [95% CI = 30% to 67%].
The investigators found of the asymptomatic cases, 55.5% [95% CI = 43.6% to 66.8%] were female and 49.6% [95% CI = 20.5% to 79.1%] were children.
The investigators concluded children and females are more likely to present as asymptomatic COVID-19 cases and could act as unknown carriers of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). Symptom-based screening might fail to identify all SARS-CoV-2 infections escalating the threat of global spread and impeding containment. Therefore, a mass surveillance system to track asymptomatic cases is critical, with special attention to females and children.
Original title:
Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Carriers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis by Syangtan G, Bista S, […], Joshi DR.
Link:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7855302/
Additional information of El Mondo:
Find more information/studies on coronavirus right here.