Further Insights into Taste and Smell Related to COVID-19

Reports has surfaced that some people with coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) have been experiencing issues with their senses of taste and smell, and a new survey confirms this ongoing problem.

An Italian survey was conducted by a team of investigators led by Giuseppe Mercante, MD, Otorhinolaryngology Unit, Humanitas Clinical and Research Center‐IRCCS, Milan. The team’s goal was to detect the presence of sinonasal manifestations preceding COVID-19 diagnosis.

The survey used 204 patients, with 55% of them having a reduction in their sense of taste and nearly 42% had a reduction in their sense of smell. However, a severe nasal obstruction was uncommon with only 7.8% from the two groups overall experiencing it.

The findings were reported in JAMA.

“The findings of this telephone survey study suggest that reduction of taste and/or smell may be a frequent and early symptom of COVID-19,” Mercante and the team wrote.

This study was a retrospective telephone survey with COVID-19 patients diagnosed with the virus from March 5 to March 23. Participants were hospitalized or discharged from a single center.

Many of the patients suffered from a severe reduction in taste and smell with 39.7% suffering from the former and 35.3% suffering from the latter. However, only 14.8% with the severe taste reduction and 16.7% of those with a severe smell reduction had a severe nasal obstruction.

Interestingly, the reduction of the two senses was seen more in women than men, (odds ratios, 3.16 [95% CI, 1.76-5.67] vs 2.58 [95% CI, 1.43-4.65]), and in middle-aged patients as opposed to younger patients (effect sizes, 0.50 [95% CI, 0.21-0.78] vs 0.85 [95% CI, 0.55-1.15]).

The investigators reported no significant association between smoking and a reduction in the two senses.

Only 12 patients (14.8%) with severe taste reduction and 12 patients (16.7%) with severe smell reduction reported severe nasal obstruction.

Contagion^® has recently reported on the sense of smell issues related to COVID-19, which can be found here.

The survey’s investigators suggest primary care providers might play a role in detecting these sense disfunctions as possible early signs of COVID-19.

“The general practitioner may play a pivotal role in identifying potential COVID-19 in patients at an early stage if taste and/or smell alterations manifest and in suggesting quarantine before confirmation or exclusion of the diagnosis,” the team wrote.