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. 2021 Apr;133(7-8):377-382.
doi: 10.1007/s00508-020-01760-4. Epub 2020 Nov 26.

Clinical manifestations of COVID-19 in the general population: systematic review

Rodrigo da Rosa Mesquita  1 , Luiz Carlos Francelino Silva Junior  1 , Fernanda Mayara Santos Santana  1 , Tatiana Farias de Oliveira  1 , Rafaela Campos Alcântara  1 , Gabriel Monteiro Arnozo  1 , Etvaldo Rodrigues da Silva Filho  1 , Aisla Graciele Galdino Dos Santos  1 , Euclides José Oliveira da Cunha  1 , Saulo Henrique Salgueiro de Aquino  1 , Carlos Dornels Freire de Souza  2   3
Affiliations

Clinical manifestations of COVID-19 in the general population: systematic review

Rodrigo da Rosa Mesquita et al. Wien Klin Wochenschr. 2021 Apr.

Abstract

Clinical manifestations of COVID-19 are varied in the general population. This study aimed to systematize the literature regarding clinical manifestations of patients with confirmed COVID-19. A systematic review of the literature was conducted. A total of 8070 scientific productions were found in the databases. Among the studies, 184 met the initial inclusion criteria, with a total of 114,046 patients. After complete reading, 32 studies that did not report clinical manifestations were excluded. The 152 publications finally included a total of 41,409 individuals from at least 23 countries and 26 different clinical manifestations were reported. In percentage terms, 6 symptoms had a general prevalence greater than or equal to 25%, namely, fever (58.66%), cough (54.52%), dyspnea (30.82%), malaise (29.75%), fatigue (28.16%) and sputum/secretion (25.33%). Neurological symptoms (20.82%), dermatological manifestations (20.45%), anorexia (20.26%), myalgia (16.9%), sneezing (14.71%), sore throat (14.41%), rhinitis (14.29%), goosebumps (13.49%), headache (12.17%), chest pain (11.49%) and diarrhea (9.59%) were other common symptoms. Only one study reported dermatological manifestations. The least frequent sign/symptom was hemoptysis (1.65%). In studies with more than 100 patients, the 3 main symptoms were fever (57.93%), cough (54.21%), and dyspnea (30.64%). Dermatological manifestations do not appear among the main symptoms. The identification of all clinical manifestations of COVID-19 is essential for an early diagnosis and the adoption of preventive measures.

Keywords: Coronavirus infection; Epidemiology; General symptoms; SARS virus.

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Conflict of interest statement

R. da Rosa Mesquita, L.C. Francelino Silva Junior, F.M. Santos Santana, T. Farias de Oliveira, R. Campos Alcântara, G. Monteiro Arnozo, E. Rodrigues da Silva Filho, A.G. Galdino dos Santos, E.J. Oliveira da Cunha, S.H. Salgueiro de Aquino, and C.D. Freire de Souza declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Study selection flowchart. 2020
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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