Alterations in Smell or Taste in Mildly Symptomatic Outpatients With SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Spinato, Giacomo; Fabbris, Cristoforo; Polesel, Jerry; Cazzador, Diego; Borsetto, Daniele; Hopkins, Claire; Boscolo‐Rizzo, Paolo

doi:10.1001/jama.2020.6771

Cited by 624 publications

(740 citation statements)

References 6 publications

(15 reference statements)

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“…Correlations suggested between disease mild severity disease and anosmia are necessarily preliminary. Whilst some suggestions are made that anosmia is associated with milder disease (21,22) , this could be confounded by the inability to assess/self-report anosmia in those patients with severe disease in intensive care settings. However, a higher viral load, potentially indicative of more severe disease, does seem to be associated with a shorter duration of anosmia (23) .…”

Section: Systematic Review Of the Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Anosmia as a presenting symptom of SARS-CoV-2 infection in healthcare workers – A systematic review of the literature, case series, and recommendations for clinical assessment and management

Lechner¹,

Chandrasekharan²,

Jumani³

et al. 2020

Rhin

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Background: Healthcare workers are at the forefront of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and are at high risk for both the contraction and subsequent spread of virus. Understanding the role of anosmia as an early symptom of infection may improve monitoring and management of SARS-CoV2 infection. Methodology:We conducted a systematic review of the literature of SARS-CoV2 infection/COVID-19 and anosmia to help inform management of anosmia in healthcare works. We report a case series of healthcare workers, who presented with a loss of sense of smell secondary to COVID-19 infection to demonstrate management principles. RT-PCR was used to confirm COVID-19 positivity and psychophysical testing of olfaction was performed using the British version of the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test, UPSIT. Results:The systematic literature search returned 31 articles eligible for inclusion in the study and informed our recommendations for clinical assessment and management. All three healthcare professionals who presented with loss of sense of smell subsequently tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Psychophysical testing of olfaction using the UPSIT confirmed mild and moderate microsmia in two, respectively, and normosmia at day 17 in one. Conclusions:Olfactory (± gustatory) dysfunction is indicative of COVID-19 infection and thus has important implications in the context of healthcare workers, or key workers in general, who work in close contact with others if not recognised as suffering from COVID. This leads to a potentially higher likelihood of spreading the virus. In conjunction with our literature review these findings have helped with creating recommendations on the assessment and management of olfactory dysfunction during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, both for healthcare workers and patients.

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Section: Systematic Review Of the Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Anosmia as a presenting symptom of SARS-CoV-2 infection in healthcare workers – A systematic review of the literature, case series, and recommendations for clinical assessment and management

Lechner¹,

Chandrasekharan²,

Jumani³

et al. 2020

Rhin

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Smell loss (anosmia), and to a lesser degree taste loss (ageusia), accompanying COVID-19 infection have appeared in reports of COVID-19 patients' testimonies 1 , preprints of scientific papers [2][3][4] , peer-reviewed publications (e.g. [5][6][7][8][9] ), and are being widely discussed by journalists.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Utility and limitations of Google searches on sensory loss as markers for new COVID-19 cases

Asseo

Fierro

Slavutsky

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Web tools are widely used among population to obtain health related information, and these data are often employed for public health monitoring. Here we analyzed searches related to smell loss and taste loss, recently linked to COVID-19, as well as sight loss and hearing loss, not included in the COVID-19 symptoms list. Google Trends results per region (Italy) or state (United States) over several weeks were compared to the number of new cases prevalence in that geographical area. Taste and smell loss searches were correlated with each other, and, during a limited time window, with new COVID-19 cases. However, this correlation decreased with time, attributable, at least in part, to media coverage. As new symptoms are being discovered for COVID-19 and the pandemic continues to spread around the globe, the lesson learned here, that correlation between public interest in novel symptoms of infectious disease has an initial spike (the "surprise rise") and subsequently goes to a new baseline due to "knowledge saturation", is of general and practical value for the public.Supplementary Figure S1 repeats the calculation presented in Figure 1 for the 22-28 April week. This clearly illustrates the current lack of correlation between the number of new cases in each region (Italy) or state (US) and the popularity of Google searches on either taste or smell loss.

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“…Nasal congestion alone is unlikely to explain the taste and smell alterations, as one-third of patients reporting loss of taste and/or smell did not report nasal congestion; other analyses have shown an even smaller proportion of COVID-19 cases with concurrent nasal congestion. 8 Proposed mechanisms for COVID-19-related olfactory and taste dysfunction include an affinity for coronaviruses to infect olfactory nerves in an animal model and the broad expression of the for use under a CC0 license.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Loss of Taste and Smell as Distinguishing Symptoms of COVID-19

Dawson

Rabold

Laws

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Olfactory and taste dysfunctions have emerged as symptoms of COVID-19. Among individuals with COVID-19 enrolled in a household study, loss of taste and/or smell was the fourth most commonly reported symptom (26/42; 62%), and among household contacts, it had the highest positive predictive value (83%; 95% CI: 55-95%) for COVID-19. These findings support consideration of loss of taste and/or smell in possible case identification and testing prioritization for COVID-19. MainThe global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has prompted robust public health investigations as healthcare workers and epidemiologists attempt to characterize the disease course. Early published reports on symptoms associated with infection focused primarily on cases with hospitalizations and emergency department visits. Among these patients with moderate to severe disease, fever, cough, and shortness of breath were the most frequently described symptoms. 1,2 Because recent reports have identified additional symptoms associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Council for State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) updated their list of symptoms compatible with SARS-CoV-2 infection in March 2020. 3,4 In addition to the classic COVID-19 symptoms of fever, cough, and shortness of breath, loss of taste and smell were added as possible symptoms.Although several reports have described these newly recognized symptoms of loss of taste and smell among individuals diagnosed with COVID-19, 5,6 few studies have prospectively evaluated for use under a CC0 license.

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Alterations in Smell or Taste in Mildly Symptomatic Outpatients With SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Abstract: This study reports on the prevalence, intensity, and timing of an altered sense of smell or taste in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infections.

Cited by 624 publications

References 6 publications

Anosmia as a presenting symptom of SARS-CoV-2 infection in healthcare workers – A systematic review of the literature, case series, and recommendations for clinical assessment and management

Anosmia as a presenting symptom of SARS-CoV-2 infection in healthcare workers – A systematic review of the literature, case series, and recommendations for clinical assessment and management

Utility and limitations of Google searches on sensory loss as markers for new COVID-19 cases

Loss of Taste and Smell as Distinguishing Symptoms of COVID-19

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