Long-Term Consequences of Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infection: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Yirui Ma, Jie Deng, Qiao Liu, Min Du, Min Liu () and Jue Liu ()
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Yirui Ma: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
Jie Deng: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
Qiao Liu: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
Min Du: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
Min Liu: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
Jue Liu: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 2, 1-13

Abstract: Little is known about the long-term consequences of asymptomatic infection caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). We aimed to review the data available to explore the long-term consequences of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection in the real world. We searched observational cohort studies that described the long-term health effects of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections. Random-effects inverse-variance models were used to evaluate the pooled prevalence (PP) and its 95% confidence interval (CI) of long-term symptoms. Random effects were used to estimate the pooled odds ratios (OR) and its 95%CI of different long-term symptoms between symptomatic and asymptomatic infections. Five studies involving a total of 1643 cases, including 597 cases of asymptomatic and 1043 cases of symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection were included in this meta-analysis. The PPs of long-term consequences after asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections were 17.13% (95%CI, 7.55–26.71%) for at least one symptom, 15.09% (95%CI, 5.46–24.73%) for loss of taste, 14.14% (95%CI, −1.32–29.61%) for loss of smell, and 9.33% (95%CI, 3.07–15.60) for fatigue. Compared with symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection, asymptomatic infection was associated with a significantly lower risk of developing COVID-19-related sequelae ( p < 0.05), with 80% lower risk of developing at least one symptom (OR = 0.20, 95%CI, 0.09–0.45), 81% lower risk of fatigue (OR = 0.19, 95%CI, 0.08–0.49), 90% lower risk of loss of taste/smell (OR = 0.10, 95%CI, 0.02–0.58). Our results suggested that there were long-term effects of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection, such as loss of taste or smell, fatigue, cough and so on. However, the risk of developing long-term symptoms in asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infected persons was significantly lower than those in symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection cases.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; asymptomatic; symptomatic; long-term consequence; systematic review; meta-analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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