In a new review study, researchers found that persistent cough and fever have been confirmed as the most prevalent symptoms linked to COVID-19.
Other major symptoms include fatigue, losing the ability to smell, and difficulty in breathing.
The study ratifies the list of symptoms compiled by the World Health Organisation at the start of the pandemic.
It is one of the biggest reviews ever conducted into COVID-19 symptoms.
The research was conducted by a team from the University of Sheffield.
The team combined data from 148 separate studies, to identify the common symptoms experienced by more than 24,000 patients from nine countries including the UK, China, and the US.
Of the 24,410 cases, the study found:
78% had a fever. Although this tended to vary across countries, 72% of fever reported by patients in Singapore and 32% in Korea.
57% reported a cough. Again, this varied across countries, with 76% of patients reporting a cough in the Netherlands compared to 18% in Korea.
31% said they had suffered fatigue.
25% lost the ability to smell.
23% reported difficulty breathing.
The researchers believe the variation in the prevalence of symptoms between countries is due, in part, to the way data was collected.
Of those patients who needed hospital treatment, 17% needed non-invasive ventilation; 19% had to be looked after in an intensive care unit, 9% required invasive ventilation and two% needed extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (an artificial lung).
This study confirms that cough and fever were the most common symptoms in people who tested positive with COVID-19.
The team says the impact of COVID-19 on daily activities has been immense. An accurate estimation of symptom prevalence, as provided by this study, is essential to combat COVID-19.
One author of the study is Michael Grant, a final year medical student from the University of Sheffield.
The study is published in PLoS One.
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