Health
COVID-19 Incubation Period Varies By SARS-CoV-2 Strain
(CTN News) – As COVID-19 variants have evolved, it has become more difficult to determine the mean incubation period.
Research Network Open highlights the importance of identifying the incubation period of variants in the SARS-CoV-2 virus due to its constant evolution and mutation throughout the pandemic.
It has been difficult to find the average incubation period of COVID-19 due to the evolution of different SARS-CoV-2 variants.
An analysis of 142 studies including 8112 COVID-19 patients was conducted. 45 studies were strong, 82 were moderate, and 15 were weak.
Between January and March 2020, most studies were conducted in China.
Incubation times ranged from 1.80 to 18.87 days in these studies.
For the Alpha variant of COVID-19, incubation took 5 days, for the Beta variant, 4.5 days, for the Delta variant, and for the Omicron variant, 3.42 days.
COVID-19’s incubation period is 6.57 days, longer than that of other acute respiratory viruses such as human coronavirus, influenza A, parainfluenza, and respiratory syncytial virus.
