Clinical features of human infection with highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) virus: A systematic review

Objective To understand the clinical features of human infection with highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) virus, provide evidence for the improvement of symptoms and disease surveillances of human infection of H5N1 virus. Methods The analysis was conducted on the data of symptoms, signs, laboratory detection results, imageological changes and complications of human H5N1 infection obtained from the related papers in database according to strict inclusion criteria. Results Thirty two papers were reviewed, 11 were in Chinese, 21 in English, and 236 cases were analyzed. The median score of quality assessment of the papers was 31, and 53.1% of papers were with score of ＞30. The main symptoms and signs of human H5N1 infection were fever ( 38 ℃), cough and dyspnea. The main laboratory findings were reductions of WBC and lymphocyte. Imageological changes were infiltration, consolidation and others duo to pneumonia, The patients with severe H5N1 infection were more likely to have complications of ARDS. Conclusion It is necessary to increase the awareness of the clinical symptoms of human H5N1 infection among clinicians to improve their diagnosis ability of the disease in early screening.