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Observational Study
. 2020 Sep;26(9):1236-1241.
doi: 10.1016/j.cmi.2020.05.026. Epub 2020 Jun 2.

New-onset anosmia and ageusia in adult patients diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection

A Patel  1 , E Charani  2 , D Ariyanayagam  3 , A Abdulaal  1 , S J Denny  4 , N Mughal  5 , L S P Moore  5
Affiliations
Observational Study

New-onset anosmia and ageusia in adult patients diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection

A Patel et al. Clin Microbiol Infect. 2020 Sep.

Abstract

Objectives: We investigated the prevalence of anosmia and ageusia in adult patients with a laboratory-confirmed diagnosis of infection with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2).

Methods: This was a retrospective observational analysis of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 admitted to hospital or managed in the community and their household contacts across a London population during the period March 1st to April 1st, 2020. Symptomatology and duration were extracted from routinely collected clinical data and follow-up telephone consultations. Descriptive statistics were used.

Results: Of 386 patients, 141 (92 community patients, 49 discharged inpatients) were included for analysis; 77/141 (55%) reported anosmia and ageusia, nine reported only ageusia and three only anosmia. The median onset of anosmia in relation to onset of SARS-CoV-2 disease (COVID-19) symptoms (as defined by the Public Health England case definition) was 4 days (interquartile range (IQR) 5). Median duration of anosmia was 8 days (IQR 16). Median duration of COVID-19 symptoms in community patients was 10 days (IQR 8) versus 18 days (IQR 13.5) in admitted patients. As of April 1, 45 patients had ongoing COVID-19 symptoms and/or anosmia; 107/141 (76%) patients had household contacts, and of 185 non-tested household contacts 79 (43%) had COVID-19 symptoms with 46/79 (58%) reporting anosmia. Six household contacts had anosmia only.

Conclusions: Over half of the positive patients reported anosmia and ageusia, suggesting that these should be added to the case definition and used to guide self-isolation protocols. This adaptation may be integral to case findings in the absence of population-level testing. Until we have successful population-level vaccination coverage, these steps remain critical in the current and future waves of this pandemic.

Keywords: Ageusia; Anosmia; COVID-19; Coronavirus; Ear nose and throat [MeSH]; SARS-CoV-2.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow diagram of participant selection for patients positive for severe acute respiratory distress syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) from a London community and a secondary-care population between March 1st and April 1st, 2020.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Onset and duration (in days) of anosmia in relation to COVID-19 symptoms in patients from a London community and a secondary-care population between March 1st and April 1st, 2020. Arrow indicates ongoing symptoms at the time of telephone consultations.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The presence of COVID-19 symptoms and anosmia in non-tested household contacts (n = 185) of patients from a London community and a secondary-care population tested positive for severe acute respiratory distress syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) between March 1st and April 1st, 2020.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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