SynthesisPloS one2020
Effects of temperature and humidity on the spread of COVID-19: A systematic review.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 205 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
205 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 426 citations in OpenAlex.
- COVID-19 in Space: Possible Health Risks and Preparedness Guidelines.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Pooled it
- Global meta-analysis of short-term associations between ambient temperature and pathogen-specific respiratory infections, 2004 to 2023.Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin · 2025Pooled it
- What is the Role of SNORA42 in Carcinogenesis? A Systematic Review.Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention : APJCP · 2023Pooled it
- Combining and comparing regional SARS-CoV-2 epidemic dynamics in Italy: Bayesian meta-analysis of compartmental models and global sensitivity analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2022Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta-analysis on correlation of weather with COVID-19.Scientific reports · 2021Pooled it
- Key questions for modelling COVID-19 exit strategies.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2020Pooled it
- Inferring Seasonal Modulation of Early SARS-CoV-2 Transmissibility from Cross-Country Environmental and Population-Level Predictors.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- SARS-CoV-2 and climate factors: a study between linear regression and quantile regression model using longitudinal count data.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Urban traffic dynamics and their impact on CO₂ emissions and temperature: a three-year GNSS-based study during the COVID-19 pandemic in Jakarta.Carbon balance and management · 2026Article
- Understanding socioeconomic inequalities in COVID-19 vaccination: controlling endogenous selection in Cali, Colombia.International journal of health geographics · 2025Article
- Infectivity duration of HCoV-OC43, a surrogate for SARS-CoV-2, in artificial bodily fluids on stainless steel simulating common nonporous surfaces.Microbiology spectrum · 2025Article
- COVID-19 and its association with meteorological, climate, and environmental factors: A systematic review.Journal of public health research · 2025Review
- Investigation of influential environmental and climatic determinants on COVID-19 spread in India to formulate a sustainable pandemic response.One health (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2025Article
- The next viral pandemic-where do we stand?Folia microbiologica · 2025Review
- A framework for modeling county-level COVID-19 transmission.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Association between humidity and respiratory health: the 2016-2018 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.Respiratory research · 2024Article
- Indirect and direct effects of nighttime light on COVID-19 mortality using satellite image mapping approach.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Review
- Global impact of COVID-19 on food safety and environmental sustainability: Pathways to face the pandemic crisis.Heliyon · 2024Review
- Natural and socio-environmental factors in the transmission of COVID-19: a comprehensive analysis of epidemiology and mechanisms.BMC public health · 2024Review
145 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundFaced with the global pandemic of COVID-19, declared by World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11th 2020, and the need to better understand the seasonal behavior of the virus, our team conducted this systematic review to describe current knowledge about the emergence and replicability of the virus and its connection with different weather factors such as temperature and relative humidity.
methodsThe review was registered with the PROSPERO database. The electronic databases PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, LILACS, OpenGrey and Google Scholar were examined with the searches restricted to the years 2019 and 2020. Risk of bias assessment was performed using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Critical Appraisal Checklist tool. The GRADE tool was used to assess the certainty of the evidence.
resultsThe initial screening identified 517 articles. After examination of the full texts, seventeen studies met the review's eligibility criteria. Great homogeneity was observed in the findings regarding the effect of temperature and humidity on the seasonal viability and transmissibility of COVID-19. Cold and dry conditions were potentiating factors on the spread of the virus. After quality assessment, two studies had a high risk of bias, eleven studies were scored as moderate risk of bias, and four studies were classified as low risk of bias. The certainty of evidence was graded as low for both outcomes evaluated.
conclusionConsidering the existing scientific evidence, warm and wet climates seem to reduce the spread of COVID-19. However, these variables alone could not explain most of the variability in disease transmission. Therefore, the countries most affected by the disease should focus on health policies, even with climates less favorable to the virus. Although the certainty of the evidence generated was classified as low, there was homogeneity between the results reported by the included studies.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.