SynthesisFrontiers in public health
Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Carriers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Synthesis in Frontiers in public health. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 82 papers, 4 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
82 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- New variants of COVID-19 (XBB.1.5 and XBB.1.16, the "Arcturus"): A review of highly questioned concerns, a brief comparison between different peaks in the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focused systematic review on expert recommendations for prevention, vaccination, and treatment measures in the general population and at-risk groups.Immunity, inflammation and disease · 2024Pooled it
- Epidemiology and clinical features of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and adolescents in the pre-Omicron era: A global systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of global health · 2024Pooled it
- Clinical features of COVID-19 for integration of COVID-19 into influenza surveillance: A systematic review.Journal of global health · 2022Pooled it
- Magnitude of asymptomatic COVID-19 cases throughout the course of infection: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2021Pooled it
- BCG vaccination of healthcare workers for protection against COVID-19: 12-month outcomes from an international randomised controlled trial.The Journal of infection · 2024Trial
- Genetic, Sociodemographic and Clinical Determinants of COVID-19 Severity in the Republic of Srpska: Exploring Potential Links with Neanderthal-Derived Variants.Biomedicines · 2026Article
- Laboratory evaluation of 185 commercial assays for detecting SARS-CoV-2: the UK response for mass testing.EClinicalMedicine · 2025Article
- Article
- A Cross-Sectional Study of the Use of Antigen Rapid Diagnostic Tests for Community Identification of SARS-CoV-2 in Kenya.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2025Article
- Micro-costing analysis of integrating SARS-CoV-2 antigen rapid detection tests into routine health facility services: a comparison of test-all versus screen-and-test models in Cameroon and Kenya.BMJ public health · 2025Article
- The omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 drove broadly increased seroprevalence in a public university setting.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Systematic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 reveals dynamics of variant mutagenesis and transmission in a large urban population.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Assessment of the Effective Sensitivity of SARS-CoV-2 Sample Pooling Based on a Large-Scale Screening Experience: Retrospective Analysis.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2024Article
- TAS2R38 Genotype Does Not Affect SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- The germ theory revisited: A noncentric view on infection outcome.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Modelling disease mitigation at mass gatherings: A case study of COVID-19 at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.PLoS computational biology · 2024Article
- Epidemiological contemplation for a currently pragmatic COVID-19 health passport: a perspective.Frontiers in public health · 2024Review
- Nightmare distress, insomnia and resilience of nursing staff in the post-pandemic era.AIMS public health · 2024Article
- Demographic Characteristics of Unvaccinated Asymptomatic and Symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Cases in Barwon South West, Victoria, Australia.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Rare peptide anchors of HLA class I alleles contribute to the COVID-19 disease severity and T cell memory.Biosafety and health · 2023Article
22 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
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Asymptomatic cases of SARS-CoV-2 can be unknown carriers magnifying the transmission of COVID-19. This study appraised the frequency of asymptomatic individuals and estimated occurrence by age group and gender by reviewing the existing published data on asymptomatic people with COVID-19. Three electronic databases, PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science (WoS), were used to search the literature following the guidelines of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA). The study population for this review included asymptomatic individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 reported in original articles published up to 30 April 2020. A random effects model was applied to analyze pooled data on the prevalence of asymptomatic cases among all COVID-19 patients and also by age and gender. From the meta-analysis of 16 studies, comprising 2,788 SARS-CoV-2 infected patients, the pooled prevalence according to the random effect size of asymptomatic cases was 48.2% (95% CI, 30-67%). Of the asymptomatic cases, 55.5% (95% CI, 43.6-66.8%) were female and 49.6% (95% CI, 20.5-79.1%) were children. Children and females were more likely to present as asymptomatic COVID-19 cases and could act as unknown carriers of SARS-CoV-2. 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.
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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.