The incidence of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 among asymptomatic patients: a systematic review
Autor
Al-Sadeq, Duaa W.
Nasrallah, Gheyath K.
Institución
Resumen
Background: the recent outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐ 19) has
quickly spread globally since its discovery in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. A comprehensive
strategy, including surveillance, diagnostics, research, and clinical treatment is urgently needed to
win the battle against COVID-19. Recently, numerous studies reported the incidence of SARSCoV-2 in asymptomatic patients. Yet, the incidence and viral transmission from the asymptomatic
cases are not apparent yet. Aim: this study aims to systematically review the published literature
on SARS-CoV-2 in the asymptomatic patients to estimate the incidence of COVID-19 among
asymptomatic cases, as well as describe its epidemiological and clinical significance. Method: the
literature was searched through four scientific databases: PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and
Science Direct. Results: a total of 63 studies satisfied the inclusion criteria where the majority of
the reported studies were from China. However, there was a lack of SARS-CoV-2 epidemiological
studies from several countries worldwide, tracing the actual incidence of COVID-19, especially in
asymptomatic patients. Studies with a large sample size (n>1000) estimated that percentage of
people contracting SARS-CoV-2 and are likely to be asymptomatic ranges from 1.2-12.9%.
However, the other studies with a smaller sample size reported a much higher incidence and
indicated that up to 87.9% of COVID-19 infected individuals could be asymptomatic. Most of
these studies indicated that asymptopatics are a potential source of infection to the community.
Conclusion: this review highlighted the need for more robust and well-designed studies to better
estimate COVID-19 incidence among asymptomatic patients worldwide. The early identification
of the asymptomatic cases, as well as monitoring and tracing close contact, could help in mitigating
the spread of COVID-19.