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.