Clinical characteristics of 4499 COVID-19 patients in Africa: A meta-analysis.

The novel coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic that started in December 2019 has affected over 95 million people and killed over 2 million people as of January 19, 2021. While more studies are published to help us understand the virus, there is a dearth of studies on the clinical characteristics and associated outcomes of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 on the African continent. We evaluated evidence from previous studies in Africa available in six databases between January 1 and October 6, 2020. Meta-analysis was then performed using Open-Meta Analyst and Jamovi software. A total of seven studies, including 4499 COVID-19 patients, were included. The result of the meta-analysis showed that 68.8% of infected patients were male. Common symptoms presented (with their incidences) were fever (42.8%), cough (33.3%), headache (11.3%), and breathing problems (16.8%). Other minor occurring symptoms included diarrhea (7.5%) and rhinorrhea (9.4%). Fatality rate was 5.6%. There was no publication bias in the study. This study presents the first description and analysis of the clinical characteristics of COVID-19 patients in Africa. The most common symptoms are fever, cough, and breathing problems.

Clinical and Demographic Characteristics of COVID-19 patients in Lagos, Nigeria: A Descriptive Study.

INTRODUCTION: COVID-19 is an emerging, rapidly evolving global situation, infecting over 25 million people and causing more than 850,000 deaths. Several signs and symptoms have been described to be characteristic of the disease. However, there is a dearth of report on the description of the clinical characteristics of the disease in patients from Nigeria. This study was designed to provide a description of the clinical and demographic characteristics of COVID-19 patients in Nigeria. METHODS: This study is a case series that includes patients that are evaluated between May and August 2020, and diagnosed with COVID-19. Patient health records were reviewed and evaluated to describe the clinical characteristics on presentation. RESULTS: A total of 154 COVID-19 patients were included in this study, with a mean age (S.D.) of 46.16 (13.701). Most of the patients survived (mortality rate of 2.6%), and were symptomatic (89.6%). There were more males (74.7%) than females, and the most common symptoms were fever, breathing difficulty, dry cough and malaise. Co-morbidities were also present in almost half of the study participants (49.4%). CONCLUSION: This study presents the most extensive description, to date, on the clinical and demographic characteristics of COVID-19 patients in Nigeria. Males are more likely than females to be infected with COVID-19 and the most occurring symptoms are fever, breathing difficulty, malaise, dry cough and chest pain. Old age and the presence of co-morbidities may also be associated with developing the severe disease.