AUTHOR=Gómez-Iglesias Patricia , Porta-Etessam Jesús , Montalvo Teresa , Valls-Carbó Adrián , Gajate Vicente , Matías-Guiu Jordi A. , Parejo-Carbonell Beatriz , González-García Nuria , Ezpeleta David , Láinez José Miguel , Matías-Guiu Jorge
TITLE=An Online Observational Study of Patients With Olfactory and Gustory Alterations Secondary to SARS-CoV-2 Infection
JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health
VOLUME=8
YEAR=2020
URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00243
DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2020.00243
ISSN=2296-2565
ABSTRACT=Introduction: Since the beginning of the Covid-19 epidemic produced by SARS2-Cov virus, olfactory alterations have been observed at a greater frequency than in other coronavirus epidemics. While olfactory alterations may be observed in patients with rhinovirus, influenza virus, or parainfluenza virus infection, they are typically explained by nasal obstruction with mucus or direct epithelial damage; in the case of SARS-CoV-2, olfactory alterations may present without nasal congestion with mucus. We performed a study of patients presenting olfactory/gustatory alterations in the context of SARS-CoV-2 infection in order to contribute to the understanding of this phenomenon.
Material and Methods: We performed a descriptive, cross-sectional, observational study of the clinical characteristics of olfactory/gustatory alterations using a self-administered, anonymous online questionnaire.
Results: A total of 909 patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection and olfactory/gustatory alterations responded to the questionnaire in the 4-day data collection period; 824 cases (90.65%) reported simultaneous olfactory and gustatory involvement. Patients' responses to the questionnaire revealed ageusia (581, 64.1% of respondents), hypogeusia (256, 28.2%), dysgeusia (22, 2.4%), anosmia (752 82.8%), hyposmia (142, 15.6%), and dysosmia (8, 0.9%). Fifty-four percent (489) did not report concomitant nasal congestion or mucus.
Conclusion: Olfactory alterations are frequent in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection and is only associated with nasal congestion in half of the cases.