Volume: 58 - Issue: 3
First page: 295 - Last page: 298
C. Hopkins - P. Surda - N. Kumar
INTRODUCTION: Anosmia has not been formally recognised as a symptom of COVID-19 infection. Growing anecdotal evidence suggests increasing incidence of cases of anosmia during the current pandemic, suggesting that COVID-19 may cause olfactory dysfunction. The objective was to characterise patients reporting new onset anosmia during the COVID-19 pandemic
METHODOLOGY: Design: Survey of 2428 patients reporting new onset anosmia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Setting: Volunteer sample of patients seeking medical advice of recent onset self-diagnosed loss of sense of smell
RESULTS: 2428 surveys were completed within 7 days; 64% respondents were under 40. The majority of respondents reported onset of their anosmia in the last week. Of the cohort, 17% did not report any other symptom thought to be associated with COVID-19. In patients who reported other symptoms, 51% reported either cough or fever and therefore met current guidelines for self-isolation.
CONCLUSIONS: Anosmia is reported in conjunction with well-reported symptoms of coronas virus, but 1 in 6 patients with recent onset anosmia report this as an isolated symptom. This might help identify otherwise asymptomatic carriers of disease and trigger targeted testing. Further study with COVID-19 testing is required to identify the proportion of patients in whom new onset anosmia can be attributed to COVID-19.
Rhinology 58-3: 295-298, 2020
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