Page 2 of 11 J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f Background. Medical publications about anosmia with COVID-19 are scarce. We aimed to describe the prevalence and features of anosmia in COVID-19 patients. Methods. We retrospectively included COVID-19 patients with anosmia between March 1 andMarch 17, 2020. We used SARS-CoV-2 real time PCR in respiratory samples to confirm the cases.Results. Fifty-four of 114 patients (47%) with confirmed COVID-19 reported anosmia. Mean age of the 54 patients was 47 (±16) years; 67% were females and 37% were hospitalized. The median Charlson comorbidity index was 0.70 (±1.6 [0-7]). Forty-six patients (85%) had dysgeusia and 28% presented with pneumonia. Anosmia began 4.4 (±1.9 [1-8]) days after infection onset. The mean duration of anosmia was 8.9 (±6.3 [1-21]) days and 98% of patients recovered within 28 days. Conclusions.Anosmia was present in half of our European COVID-19 patients and was often associated with dysgeusia.

Introduction.-No therapy has yet proven effective in COVID-19. Tocilizumab (TCZ) in patients with severe COVID-19 could be an effective treatment. Method.-We conducted a retrospective case-control study in the Nord Franche-Comté Hospital, France. We compared the outcome of patients treated with TCZ and patients without TCZ considering a combined primary endpoint: death and/or ICU admissions. Results.-Patients with TCZ (n = 20) had a higher Charlson comorbidity index (5.3 [±2.4] vs 3.4 [±2.6], P = 0.014), presented with more severe forms (higher level of oxygen therapy at 13 L/min vs 6 L/min, P < 0.001), and had poorer biological findings (severe lymphopenia: 676/mm 3 vs 914/mm 3 , P = 0.037 and higher CRP level: 158 mg/L vs 105 mg/L, P = 0.017) than patients without TCZ (n = 25). However, death and/or ICU admissions were higher in patients without TCZ than in the TCZ group (72% vs 25%, P = 0.002). Conclusion.-Despite the small sample size and retrospective nature of the work, this result strongly suggests that TCZ may reduce the number of ICU admissions and/or mortality in patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia.

Clinical descriptions about influenza-like illnesses (ILI) in COVID-19 seem non-specific. We aimed to compare the clinical features of COVID-19 and influenza. We retrospectively investigated the clinical features and outcomes of confirmed cases of COVID-19 and influenza in Nord Franche-Comt e Hospital between February 26th and March 14th 2020. We used SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR and influenza virus A/B RT-PCR in respiratory samples to confirm the diagnosis. We included 124 patients. The mean age was 59 (±19 [19e98]) years with 69% female. 70 patients with COVID-19 and 54 patients with influenza A/B. Regarding age, sex and comorbidities, no differences were found between the two groups except a lower Charlson index in COVID-19 group (2 [±2.5] vs 3 [±2.4],p ¼ 0.003). Anosmia (53% vs 17%,p < 0.001), dysgeusia (49% vs 20%,p ¼ 0.001), diarrhea (40% vs 20%,p ¼ 0.021), frontal headache (26% vs 9%,p ¼ 0.021) and bilateral cracklings sounds (24% vs 9%,p ¼ 0.034) were statistically more frequent in COVID-19. Sputum production (52% vs 29%,p ¼ 0.010), dyspnea (59% vs 34%,p ¼ 0.007), sore throat (44% vs 20%,p ¼ 0.006), conjunctival hyperhemia (30% vs 4%,p < 0.001), tearing (24% vs 6%,p ¼ 0.004), vomiting (22% vs 3%,p ¼ 0.001) and rhonchi sounds (17% vs 1%,p ¼ 0.002) were more frequent with influenza infection. We described several clinical differences which can help the clinicians during the cocirculation of influenza and SARS-CoV-2.

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Background: New loss of smell or taste was not included among the common symptoms of COVID-19 until March 2020 when the pandemic started in Western countries. We aim to describe the prevalence and features of anosmia and dysgeusia in COVID-19 patients. Methods: We retrospectively investigated the clinical features of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Nord Franche-Comté Hospital, Trevenans, France, between March, 1st and March, 14th 2020. We used SARS-CoV-2 real-time RT-PCR in respiratory samples to confirm the cases. Results: Of the 70 patients enrolled, the mean age was 57.0 years, and 29 patients (41%) were men. Median Charlson comorbidity index was 1.70 (AE2.5). Twenty-seven (39%) patients had pneumonia. Fatigue (93% [65]), cough (80%[55]), and fever (77%[54]) were the three main symptoms. Neurologic symptoms were present in more than half of the patients: anosmia (53%[37]) and dysgeusia (48%[34]). The mean duration of anosmia was 7.4 (AE5, [1-21]) days, and 51% (36/70) of patients recovered before 28 days of evolution. Only one patient with anosmia had not recovered at the end of the follow-up. Patients with anosmia had pneumonia less often (10/37 vs 17/33, p = 0.036), were hospitalized less often (13/37 vs 20/33, p = 0.033), and needed oxygen therapy less often (6/37 vs 17/33, p = 0.002) than patients without anosmia. There were no statistically significant differences for viral load between patients with anosmia and patients without anosmia (5.5 [2.0À8.6] vs 5.3 [2.1À8.5] log copies/mL respectively, p = 0.670). The fatality of COVID-19 in our study was 6%, with four deaths. Conclusions: Anosmia and dysgeusia are present in half of COVID-19 patients. The mean duration of anosmia was 7 days, and the outcome seems favorable in less than 28 days.