High Frequency of Smell and Taste Dysfunction in Health Care Professionals With COVID-19 Working in Allergy Departments

Abstract

Introduction: Since the early stages of the novel coronavirus 2019 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak, smell and/or taste dysfunction (STD) has been reported in 5% to 88% of COVID-19 patients. Objective: We aimed to assess STD in health care professionals (HCPs), mainly allergists, affected by COVID-19. We carried out a survey to evaluate the association between STD and its severity and demographic characteristics, symptoms, comorbidities, and hospital admission. Methods: We designed a 15-item questionnaire comprising various sections, as follows: demographics, diagnostic characteristics, STD patterns, medication use, and comorbidities. The questionnaire was developed using Google forms. It was distributed to members of the Spanish Society of Allergology and Clinical Immunology (SEAIC) and sent via social media to be completed by HCPs with COVID-19. Results: The survey was completed by HCPs (n=234), of whom 76.5% were aged ≤55 years and 73.5% were female. STD was detected in 74.4% of respondents, of whom 95.6% reported moderate-severe impairment. Mean time until recovery of taste dysfunction was 21.6 (24.0) days in HCPs aged ≤55 years and 33.61±26.2 days in those aged >55 years (P=.019). Analysis stratified by severity of STD showed that more than a half of COVID-19 patients presented severe loss of smell. Older age (>55 years) was associated with fever, anorexia, lower frequency of headache, and longer persistence of taste dysfunction. Conclusion: STD is a common symptom in COVID-19, even as a unique or preceding symptom. HCPs who reported smell dysfunction were younger than those not affected with STD. Taste dysfunction may imply more systemic involvement in COVID-19–positive HCPs.

Camera-based visual feedback learning aid for recovering sense of smell and taste in COVID-19 survivors: a proof-of-concept study

“…Dalinda Isabel Sánchez-Vidaña, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China of the sense of smell), hyposmia (reduced sense of smell) or parosmia (distorted sense of smell; e.g., Chary et al, 2020;Chiesa-Estomba et al, 2020;Antolín-Amérigo et al, 2021;Printza et al, 2021). A similar proportion of people with COVID-19 report ageusia (loss of the sense of taste), hypogeusia (reduced sense of taste) or dysgeusia (altered perception of taste), with many people reporting both smell and taste impairment (Wang et al, 2023).…”

“…A new onset of smell or taste loss has been considered a clinical indicator of SARS-CoV-2 infection since the start of the pandemic (e.g., Borsetto et al, 2020 ; Costa and Carnauba, 2020 ; Giacomelli et al, 2020 ; Lechien et al, 2020 ; Spinato et al, 2020 ). About 1 in 5 people with COVID-19 report persistent (i.e., lasting more than 10 days) COVID-19-related anosmia (loss of the sense of smell), hyposmia (reduced sense of smell) or parosmia (distorted sense of smell; e.g., Chary et al, 2020 ; Chiesa-Estomba et al, 2020 ; Antolín-Amérigo et al, 2021 ; Printza et al, 2021 ). A similar proportion of people with COVID-19 report ageusia (loss of the sense of taste), hypogeusia (reduced sense of taste) or dysgeusia (altered perception of taste), with many people reporting both smell and taste impairment ( Wang et al, 2023 ).…”