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.

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