Acute‐onset smell and taste disorders in the context of COVID‐19: a pilot multicentre polymerase chain reaction based case–control study

Abstract

Background and purpose: Specific respiratory tract infections, including COVID-19, may cause smell and/or taste disorders (STDs) with increased frequency. The aim was to determine whether new-onset STDs are more frequent amongst COVID-19 patients than influenza patients. Method: This was a case-control study including hospitalized patients of two tertiary care centres. Consecutive patients positive for COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (cases) and patients positive for influenza polymerase chain reaction (historical control sample) were assessed during specific periods, employing a self-reported STD questionnaire. Results: Seventy-nine cases and 40 controls were included. No significant differences were found in basal features between the two groups. New-onset STDs were significantly more frequent amongst cases (31, 39.2%) than in the control group (5, 12.5 %) [adjusted odds ratio 21.4 (2.77-165.4, P = 0.003)]. COVID-19 patients with new-onset STDs were significantly younger than COVID-19 patients without STDs (52.6 AE 17.2 vs. 67.4 AE 15.1, P < 0.001). Amongst COVID-19 patients who presented STDs, 22 (70.9%) recalled an acute onset and it was an initial manifestation in 11 (35.5%). Twenty-five (80.6%) presented smell disorders (mostly anosmia, 14, 45.2%) and 28 (90.3%) taste disorders (mostly ageusia, 14, 45.2%). Only four (12.9 %) reported concomitant nasal obstruction. The mean duration of STD was 7.5 AE 3.2 days and 12 patients (40%) manifested complete recovery after 7.4 AE 2.3 days of onset. Conclusion: New-onset STDs were significantly more frequent amongst COVID-19 patients than influenza patients; they usually had an acute onset and were commonly an initial manifestation. The use of STD assessment in anamnesis as a hint for COVID-19 and to support individuals' self-isolation in the current epidemic context is suggested.

Olfactory and gustatory dysfunction in 2019 novel coronavirus: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis

“…The systematic search resulted in 160 potentially relevant articles. They were obtained from four e-databases including PubMed (65), EMBASE (41), Scopus (43), and WoS (11). After leaving out 84 duplicated studies, the titles and abstracts of the rest were examined, if needed their full texts were also checked.…”

“…Two categories of the MMAT were employed based on the study design to examine the methodological quality of these studies; quantitative non-randomized category for cross-sectional and case-control studies and quantitative descriptive category for case-report and case series ones. Of the 28 included studies, one (44) had a MMAT score of 100%, six (19,26,27,38,42,43) (19,29,40); and one study (31) was conducted in European and American countries jointly.…”

“…The most common method was the self-report. Self-report could be done through different ways: an online questionnaire (12,19,27,30,34,37), non-online questionnaire (18,32,35,39,43,44), online checklist (17), the COVID RADAR Symptom Tracker app (16), visual analogue scale (VAS) (25), archived medical records (40,41), or verbally (45,46). Four studies (28,29,31,33) did not report how to measure, just extracted from medical records.…”

Knowledge of Dental Academics about the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multi-Country Online Survey

“…Moderate-to-severe symptoms, such as severe acute respiratory distress, may progress to respiratory failure and death (5). A signi cant number of COVID-19 patients also present with loss of smell and taste (6), which may prompt them to consult a dentist for care. COVID-19 is of interest to dentists because of the risk of infection in their practices.…”

COVID‐19 and neurodegeneration: what can we learn from the past?

“…Hyposmia, a classical prodromal nonmotor feature of Parkinson disease (PD), has been reported as an early clinical manifestation of COVID-19, but its relevance remains under discussion [3]. Interestingly, olfactory dysfunction could link acute viral infection with increased risk of developing neurodegenerative disorders.…”