Wheaton Journal of Scientific Reviews
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Item Correlation of humidity and temperature with COVID-19 transmission: a systematic review of published literature(Wheaton College (Norton, Mass.), 2021-12-20) Goble, Quinn; Mantineo, Helene; Hanna, Benjamin; Doo, Julia; Drouin, Sadie; El-Khatib, Samer; Karambizi, Kellia; Galinis, Aubrie; Waseem, Tayab; Edemobi, Stefan; Zaremba, Justin; Wilkins, Devan; Clawson, Rebecca; Afreen, Amna; Stoltz, Michael; Morris, Robert L.Studying the climate conditions of the transmission of severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is important for understanding how the COVID-19 pandemic will spread across different climate zones and in different seasons. There are many studies that have examined the effects of humidity and temperature on the transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2, with varying results. This systematic review examined all papers addressing the effects of temperature and humidity on SARS-CoV-2 transmission using conventional and AI-driven literature searches. A total of 128 relevant articles were found, with quantitative data extracted from 57 studies. The results of a meta-analysis of correlational data indicate that temperature and humidity are both positively and negatively correlated with COVID-19 cases, with no obvious patterns emerging when taking multi-country and single-country studies into account. The unexpectedly wide range in the published data suggest that the seasonal factors of temperature and humidity alone will not be sufficient for predicting trends in SARS-CoV-2 transmissibility.Item A Systematic Review of the Incubation Period of SARS-CoV-2: The Effects of Age, Biological Sex, and Location on Incubation Period(medRxiv, 2020-12-24) Daley, Caitlin; Fydenkevez, Megan; Ackerman-Morris, ShariA systematic review of the incubation period of COVID-19 was compiled and analyzed from 21 quantitative studies. We investigated the incubation period of COVID-19 with regard to age, biological sex, location, and severity of the disease. Based on the data extracted, we report an overall mean and median incubation period for SARS-CoV-2 of 5.894 days and 5.598 days, respectively. The incubation period did not statistically vary for biological sex or age, but some studies suggest a longer incubation period in the young and elderly. Cases of COVID-19 in Wuhan and Hubei Province of China may have a shorter incubation period for COVID-19 but the shorter incubation period may be due to an increase in viral load. In studying coronavirus strains such as SARS and MERS, researchers have discovered an inverse relationship between incubation period length and virus severity. Taking into consideration that SARS-CoV-2 is part of the beta-coronavirus family, as well as the study mentioned above, we suggest that people who experience more severe disease due to SARS-CoV-2 may have a shorter incubation period.