Comparison of the clinical differences between COVID-19, SARS, influenza, and the common cold: A systematic literature review

Abstract

Background. This review focuses on the frequency of symptoms in COVID-19 in comparison to SARS, influenza and common cold.Objectives. To evaluate and compare the knowledge about the clinical features, symptoms and differences between patients with COVID-19, SARS, influenza, and common cold. The research can help ear, nose and throat specialists and other health practitioners manage patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Material and methods.The biomedical databases used in the study included PubMed and MEDLINE. Statistical analysis using the Z-score test assessed which symptoms were more characteristic of COVID-19 than other viral diseases.Results. Among individuals with COVID-19, the most frequently reported symptoms were cough (70%), fever (45%), muscular pain (29%), and headache (21%), whereas sore throat (12%), and rhinorrhea (4%) were observed at lower rates. Fever was identified as most frequent in COVID-19 (74%), appearing at a higher rate in those cases than in influenza (68%) or the common cold (40%) (p < 0.05). In comparison to other viral diseases, sore throat was rarely reported in COVID-19 and SARS (12% and 18%, respectively) (p < 0.05). In influenza and common cold, a cough was identified in 93% and 80% of cases (p < 0.05). Headache, rhinorrhea, muscular pain, and sore throat were more common in influenza (91%, 91%, 94%, and 84%, respectively) and common cold (89%, 81%, 94%, and 84%, respectively) than in COVID-19 (21%, 4%, 29%, and 12%, respectively) and SARS (45%, 12%, 55%, and 18%, respectively) (p < 0.05). Conclusions.The results of the analysis show that a greater number of general symptoms should lead to a diagnosis of influenza or common cold rather than COVID-19.

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“…However, our results are consistent with other studies [ 28 ] as previously stated and provide original data to be confirmed by prospective cohort studies. Moreover, certain symptoms of AR perceived by patients may have been confused with the one from upper respiratory tract infection although apart from nasal obstruction and rhinorrhea they are different [ 31 , 32 ].…”

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“…Another important aspect that needs to be taken into consideration, in the current pandemic context, are the similarities between pulmonary COVID-19 lesions and ILD in the anti-MDA5 DM patients, proper differential diagnosis being mandatory [ 5 , 38 , 39 ].…”