History and Spread of Viruses (COVID-19) and Associated Demographic and Clinical Parameters – A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

COVID-19 made a huge impact on the world due to its rapid transmission and no treatments being available for it. The virus affected more people and spread to various countries than what was predicted when COVID-19 initially began spreading. There have been numerous pandemics and epidemics in the 21st century yet COVID-19 has affected more people and spread widely. The primary objective of the study was to explore history, spread and associated parameters of existing viruses especially COVID-19. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guideline was followed for a systematic search to identify eligible published articles. Clinical data, regarding COVID-19 patients, was obtained from previously published articles. The main cause of COVID-19 spreading rapidly was noted to be due to a high percentage of asymptomatic patients, transmission being air-borne, and the lack of knowledge and preventative measures being implemented when the virus began spreading. The common co-morbidity that found in patients was Diabetes Mellitus, Hypertension, and Coronary Heart Disease. The common symptoms, found through the Meta-analysis, that the patients faced included cough (55.4%), fever (68.4%), fatigue (20.3%), and shortness of breath (18.1%). The proportion of asymptotic positive cases was measured 58.3% (95%CI: 24.7% – 87.9%) while mortality proportion was found to be 6.7% (fixed-effect model) and 13.4% (random-effect model). The Meta-analysis indicated that a higher percentage of males were affected by COVID-19 than females and more patients are found to be asymptomatic. Moreover, the mortality rate of patients that have had COVID-19 was found to be low.