PONE-D-20-13070

The prevalence of symptoms in 24,410 adults infected by the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19): A systematic review and meta-analysis of 148 studies from 9 countries

PLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Wade,

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Jennifer A Hirst, DPhil

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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Additional Editor Comments (if provided):

This is a well conducted piece of work worthy of publication.

However, this is a rapidly moving field and the reviewers feel that an update on searches is justified before publication.

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

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Reviewer #1: In this manuscript, Wade and collaborators present the results from a systematic review to identify the prevalence of COVID-19 symptoms worldwide. They pull together 148 studies from 9 countries for a total of 24,410 tested cases and find that fever and persistent cough are the most prevalent symptoms.

The study is well conducted, the authors screened several databases including pre-prints services. The statistical analysis is technically sound. However, as the authors correctly acknowledge, the COVID-19 research field is rapidly moving and my main concern is that the search was performed over a month and a half ago and hence may now be outdated. Indeed, very large community surveys (eg https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0857-9; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0916-2 among others) including over 3 mi people of which over 4500 with confirmed infection and over 140,000 with predicted infection have been published since. Given the difference in sample sizes the authors should include this as part of their quantitative analysis or at least mention that other studies have been conducted since April 5th and discuss whether their results/conclusions are still valid or not.

Reviewer #2: I recommend publication of this timely paper.

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No

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The prevalence of symptoms in 24,410 adults infected by the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19): A systematic review and meta-analysis of 148 studies from 9 countries

PONE-D-20-13070R1

Dear Dr. Wade,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

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Kind regards,

Jennifer A Hirst, DPhil

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments: