Table 1.
Symptom prevalence across different COVID-19 severity levels
| Symptom | Prevalence of symptoms (%) | ||
| Mild cohort* (n=2585) | Mixed cohort† (n=55 924) | Inpatient cohort‡ (n=25 477) | |
| Breathlessness | 4.8 | 18.6 | 65.2 |
| Dry cough | 40.8 | 67.7 | 68.0 |
| Fever | 25.9 | 87.9§ | 66.4 |
| Fatigue | n/a | n/a | 35.0 |
| Confusion | 0.0 | n/a | 23.3 |
| Wet cough | 25.3 | 33.4 | 20.1 |
| Diarrhoea | 6.9 | 3.7 | 16.4 |
| Nausea and vomiting | 2.4 | 5.0 | 16.3 |
| Muscle and joint pain | 18.6 | 14.8 | 14.6 |
| Chest tightness | n/a | n/a | 11.5 |
| Headache | n/a | 13.6 | 8.7 |
| Abdominal pain | n/a | n/a | 8.2 |
| Wheeze | n/a | n/a | 8.0 |
| Sore throat | n/a | 13.9 | 6.8 |
| Haemoptysis | n/a | 0.9 | 2.6 |
| Runny nose | 12.8 | n/a | 2.3 |
| Conjunctival congestion | 20.6 | 0.8 | 0.3 |
*Sung et al discussed previously.9
†55 924 PCR-confirmed positive cases from China were analysed in February 2020. Fever in this study was defined as temperature >37.2°C (WHO-China Joint Mission).61
‡A further inpatient cohort (n=25 477) examined symptoms at presentation to hospitals in the UK between February and May 2020. Overall mortality was 35%.62
§Fever was defined in this cohort as >37.2°C.