Silent disease and loss of taste and smell are common manifestations of SARS-COV-2 infection in a quarantine facility: Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Objectives In this study, we aimed to study the clinical presentations, and viral clearance of SARS-COV-2 positive quarantined individuals. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Governmental- designated facility in the eastern province, Saudi Arabia. Participants 128 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 quarantined individuals who had a history of travel abroad in the last 14 days before the quarantine or were in direct contact with laboratory-confirmed cases. The study was from March 18th-till April 16th. Primary and secondary measures The clinical presentation, prevalence of asymptomatic carriers among SARS-COV-2 positive quarantined subjects, and the difference between virus clearance among symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals. Results Sixty-nine of the 128 residents (54%) were completely asymptomatic until the end of the study. The remaining 59 residents (46%) had only mild symptoms. The most common symptom was a sudden loss of smell and taste, accounting for 47.5%. The median time to virus clearance was significantly different between the two groups. Symptomatic residents cleared the virus at a median of 17 days (95% CI, 12.4–21.6) from the first positive PCR vs. 11days (95% CI, 8.7–13.3) in the asymptomatic group (P = 0.011). False-negative test results occurred in 18.8% of the total residents and false-positive results in 3%. Conclusion The prevalence of asymptomatic carriers among quarantined travelers and those identified by contact tracing is high in our study. Therefore, testing, tracing, and isolating travelers and contacts of laboratory-confirmed cases, regardless of symptoms, were very effective measures for early disease identification and containment. Loss of taste and smell were the most common presentations in our mild symptomatic residents and should be used as a screening tool for COVID-19. The persistent positive PCR beyond 14 days observed in the mild symptomatic residents despite being symptoms free, warrant further studies to determine its implications on disease spread and control.

The Prevalence and Pathophysiology of Chemical Sense Disorder Caused by the Novel Coronavirus

“…In another case–control study ( n = 60), Moein et al ( 39 ) documented that 98.33% of COVID-19-positive patients had olfactory dysfunction. Alshami et al ( 40 ) studied 128 COVID-19 patients at a quarantine facility in Saudi Arabia and recorded a prevalence of olfactory dysfunction of 47.5%. Al-Rawi et al ( 41 ) carried out telephone interviews with 500 COVID-19 patients, of whom 44% had anosmia.…”

Durability of Antibody Responses to SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Its Relationship to Disease Severity Assessed Using a Commercially Available Assay

“…Patients were recruited from one quarantine facility and from COVID-19 designated hospitals in the Eastern province. In addition, some participants were recruited from a database used in a previously published article ( Alshami et al, 2020 ). Demographic data, clinical presentation, and symptom onset were obtained from phone-based surveys for quarantined subjects and from hospital medical records for hospitalized patients.…”

“…Coronavirus disease 2019 presents across a wide clinical spectrum ranging from asymptomatic cases to those with severe disease requiring intensive care admission (ICU) in 5% of cases ( Alshami et al, 2020 ; Wu and McGoogan, 2020 ).…”

Diagnostic accuracy and predictive value of clinical symptoms for the diagnosis of mild COVID-19

“…At the same time, the testing capacity under actual conditions is not enough to meet current needs. Therefore, the formation of target groups for self-isolation and outpatient treatment is an important issue [18].…”