Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35799321›Full record

SynthesisTransboundary and emerging diseases2022

Systematic review and meta-analyses of superspreading of SARS-CoV-2 infections.

Zhanwei Du, Chunyu Wang, Caifen Liu, Yuan Bai, Sen Pei, Dillon C Adam, Lin Wang, Peng Wu, Eric H Y Lau, Benjamin J Cowling

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Transboundary and emerging diseases, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
16citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

16 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Article
  5. Reconstructing the early spatial spread of pandemic respiratory viruses in the United States.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
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  8. Inferring pathogen superspreading potential using early spatial spread patterns.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Zhanwei DuLi Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control, School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2020-767X
Chunyu WangLi Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control, School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
Caifen LiuLi Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control, School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
Yuan BaiLi Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control, School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
Sen PeiDepartment of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York.
Dillon C AdamLi Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control, School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
Lin WangDepartment of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5371-2138
Peng WuLi Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control, School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
Eric H Y LauLi Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control, School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
Benjamin J CowlingLi Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control, School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Superspreading, or overdispersion in transmission, is a feature of SARS-CoV-2 transmission which results in surging epidemics and large clusters of infection. The dispersion parameter is a statistical parameter used to characterize and quantify heterogeneity. In the context of measuring transmissibility, it is analogous to measures of superspreading potential among populations by assuming that collective offspring distribution follows a negative-binomial distribution. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis on globally reported dispersion parameters of SARS-CoV-2 infection. All searches were carried out on 10 September 2021 in PubMed for articles published from 1 January 2020 to 10 September 2021. Multiple estimates of the dispersion parameter have been published for 17 studies, which could be related to where and when the data were obtained, in 8 countries (e.g. China, the United States, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, New Zealand and Singapore). High heterogeneity was reported among the included studies. The mean estimates of dispersion parameters range from 0.06 to 2.97 over eight countries, the pooled estimate was 0.55 (95% CI: 0.30, 0.79), with changing means over countries and decreasing slightly with the increasing reproduction number. The expected proportion of cases accounting for 80% of all transmissions is 19% (95% CrI: 7, 34) globally. The study location and method were found to be important drivers for diversity in estimates of dispersion parameters. While under high potential of superspreading, larger outbreaks could still occur with the import of the COVID-19 virus by traveling even when an epidemic seems to be under control.

Indexed as

COVID-19EpidemicsAnimalsChinaIndiaSARS-CoV-2COVID-19dispersion parametermeta-analysisSARS-CoV-2superspreadingsystematic review

Identifiers

PMID35799321
PMCPMC9349569

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.