Differences in clinical characteristics between coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and influenza: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Abstract The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic has brought major challenges to the global health system, and influenza is also a problem that cannot be ignored. We aimed to explore and compare the clinical characteristics of COVID-19 and influenza to deepen the understanding of these two...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-01-01
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| Series: | npj Primary Care Respiratory Medicine |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41533-025-00414-0 |
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| author | Yingying Han Jia Guo Xingzhao Li Zhuan Zhong |
| author_facet | Yingying Han Jia Guo Xingzhao Li Zhuan Zhong |
| author_sort | Yingying Han |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic has brought major challenges to the global health system, and influenza is also a problem that cannot be ignored. We aimed to explore and compare the clinical characteristics of COVID-19 and influenza to deepen the understanding of these two diseases and provide some guidance for clinicians to make differential diagnoses. We searched PubMed, Embase and Web of Science for articles and performed a meta-analysis using Stata 14.0 with a random-effects model. This meta-analysis was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. One hundred articles involving 226,913 COVID-19 patients and 201,617 influenza patients were included, and all the articles included patients with these two diseases as experimental and control groups. Compared to influenza, COVID-19 was more common among men (OR = 1.46, 95% CI: 1.23–1.74) and people with a higher body mass index (MD = 1.43, 95% CI: 1.09–1.77). The proportion of current smokers among COVID-19 patients was lower than that among influenza patients (OR = 0.25, 95% CI: 0.18–0.33). Patients with COVID-19 had longer stays in the hospital (MD = 3.20, 95% CI: 2.58–3.82) and ICU (MD = 3.10, 95% CI: 1.44–4.76), required mechanical ventilation more frequently (OR = 2.30, 95% CI: 1.77–3.00), and had higher mortality (OR = 2.22, 95% CI: 1.93–2.55). We also found significant differences in some blood parameters between the two groups of patients. Upper respiratory symptoms were more obvious in influenza patients, and the proportion of comorbidities was higher than that among COVID-19 patients. There are some differences in the major characteristics, symptoms, laboratory findings and comorbidities between COVID-19 patients and influenza patients. COVID-19 patients often require more medical resources and have worse clinical outcomes. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-f3f6d9931fe1456d83949fd5230a4f0b |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2055-1010 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | npj Primary Care Respiratory Medicine |
| spelling | doaj-art-f3f6d9931fe1456d83949fd5230a4f0b2025-02-02T12:09:13ZengNature Portfolionpj Primary Care Respiratory Medicine2055-10102025-01-0135111210.1038/s41533-025-00414-0Differences in clinical characteristics between coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and influenza: a systematic review and meta-analysisYingying Han0Jia Guo1Xingzhao Li2Zhuan Zhong3Department of Neurology, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin UniversityDepartment of Respiratory, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin UniversityDepartment of Ultrasound, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin UniversityDepartment of Orthopaedics, The Second Hospital of Jilin UniversityAbstract The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic has brought major challenges to the global health system, and influenza is also a problem that cannot be ignored. We aimed to explore and compare the clinical characteristics of COVID-19 and influenza to deepen the understanding of these two diseases and provide some guidance for clinicians to make differential diagnoses. We searched PubMed, Embase and Web of Science for articles and performed a meta-analysis using Stata 14.0 with a random-effects model. This meta-analysis was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. One hundred articles involving 226,913 COVID-19 patients and 201,617 influenza patients were included, and all the articles included patients with these two diseases as experimental and control groups. Compared to influenza, COVID-19 was more common among men (OR = 1.46, 95% CI: 1.23–1.74) and people with a higher body mass index (MD = 1.43, 95% CI: 1.09–1.77). The proportion of current smokers among COVID-19 patients was lower than that among influenza patients (OR = 0.25, 95% CI: 0.18–0.33). Patients with COVID-19 had longer stays in the hospital (MD = 3.20, 95% CI: 2.58–3.82) and ICU (MD = 3.10, 95% CI: 1.44–4.76), required mechanical ventilation more frequently (OR = 2.30, 95% CI: 1.77–3.00), and had higher mortality (OR = 2.22, 95% CI: 1.93–2.55). We also found significant differences in some blood parameters between the two groups of patients. Upper respiratory symptoms were more obvious in influenza patients, and the proportion of comorbidities was higher than that among COVID-19 patients. There are some differences in the major characteristics, symptoms, laboratory findings and comorbidities between COVID-19 patients and influenza patients. COVID-19 patients often require more medical resources and have worse clinical outcomes.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41533-025-00414-0 |
| spellingShingle | Yingying Han Jia Guo Xingzhao Li Zhuan Zhong Differences in clinical characteristics between coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and influenza: a systematic review and meta-analysis npj Primary Care Respiratory Medicine |
| title | Differences in clinical characteristics between coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and influenza: a systematic review and meta-analysis |
| title_full | Differences in clinical characteristics between coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and influenza: a systematic review and meta-analysis |
| title_fullStr | Differences in clinical characteristics between coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and influenza: a systematic review and meta-analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Differences in clinical characteristics between coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and influenza: a systematic review and meta-analysis |
| title_short | Differences in clinical characteristics between coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and influenza: a systematic review and meta-analysis |
| title_sort | differences in clinical characteristics between coronavirus disease 2019 covid 19 and influenza a systematic review and meta analysis |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41533-025-00414-0 |
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