April 9, 2021

The Incubation Period during the Pandemic of COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Clinical Characteristics and Health Care Setting

Keywords (Tags): clinical characteristics

• A systematic review (42 studies) and meta-analysis (11 studies) estimated a pooled mean incubation period for COVID-19 of 6.2 days. The authors note that many studies estimated a 95th percentile for incubation periods of up to 16 days, which they suggest may indicate that longer incubation periods should be considered when recommending quarantine and isolation periods for persons exposed to SARS-CoV-2.  

Dhouib et al. (Dec 8, 2021). The Incubation Period during the Pandemic of COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Systematic Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-021-01648-y