Loss of Smell and Taste Validated as COVID-19 Symptoms in Patients with High Recovery

[sl8]

From https://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/pressrelease/loss-of-smell-and-taste-validated-as-covid-19-symptoms-in-patients-with-high-recovery-rate

Loss of Smell and Taste Validated as COVID-19 Symptoms in Patients with High Recovery Rate

Study suggests clinicians should include sensory impairment as standard screening measure

April 13, 2020 | By Jeanna Vazquez

Loss of smell and taste has been anecdotally linked to COVID-19 infections. In a study published April 12, 2020 in the journal International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology, researchers at UC San Diego Health report the first empirical findings that strongly associate sensory loss with COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

“Based on our study, if you have smell and taste loss, you are more than 10 times more likely to have COVID-19 infection than other causes of infection. The most common first sign of a COVID-19 infection remains fever, but fatigue and loss of smell and taste follow as other very common initial symptoms,” said Carol Yan, MD, an otolaryngologist and head and neck surgeon at UC San Diego Health. “We know COVID-19 is an extremely contagious virus. This study supports the need to be aware of smell and taste loss as early signs of COVID-19.”

Yan and colleagues surveyed 1,480 patients with flu-like symptoms and concerns regarding potential COVID-19 infection who underwent testing at UC San Diego Health from March 3 through March 29, 2020. Within that total, 102 patients tested positive for the virus and 1,378 tested negative. The study included responses from 59 COVID-19-positive patients and 203 COVID-19-negative patients.

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[underpants]

1. Haven't had a sense of smell for years

Either smoking or breaking my nose a lot when I was a kid. 5 times I think.

I sometimes can sense something but often can’t identity it. When I walk into someplace with a good meal going I can tell but other than that nada.

[Girard442]

2. I had a virus 15 years ago that hammered my sense of smell.

Other than the smell thing it seemed like an average cold. Came back gradually over a few years, but it can still come and go. It temporarily flatlined last week, but I doubt it was coronavirus.

[eppur_se_muova]

7. Consider trying zinc supplements ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysgeusia#Zinc_deficiency

Zinc gluconate is available in Cold-Eeze lozenges.

[SergeStorms]

3. And since it's prime allergy season...

my sense of smell has all but disappeared. It seems the older I get the worse my allergies effect me. I now wake up every morning positive that I have the Corona Virus, and I go into panic mode until I have my first Claritan and cup of coffee. On really tough days I throw in a couple of snorts of Afrin as well, which is a total no-no, but at my age I do whatever I need in order to breathe through my nose once again.

[jayschool2013]

4. There with you, Serge

Two cuppas, an Advil and SinuCleanz spray — 60-90 minutes later, a human emerges from the funk.

[lark]

5. I feel you Serge

I too am a seasonal allergy sufferer, with frequent bouts of upper respiratory infections, earaches & bronchitis. So, here I am in No. FL with the pollen counts off the chart and I'm coughing quite a bit.

[DFW]

6. A friend of mine over in Sprout City just spent 8 days in the hospital with COVID-19

Today was his first day back in the office (his outfit classifies as a financial institution, so they stay open). He was all tubed up, though not on a ventilator. His lung function is nowhere near back to normal, and he was warned not to do anything strenuous. But he is apparently out of danger, with sense of smell returning.

The border is still closed, but as soon as I can get over there, I'll ask for the full story.