Loss Of Smell and Taste Now Recognized Symptoms Of COVID-19

Loss of smell and taste as an early symptom of COVID-19 and these symptoms are likely to occur the third day after contracting the Coronavirus.

Medical staff collect a swab sample for a coronavirus test from a Indian citizen evacuated from Dubai by an Air India flight at the Anna International Airport in Chennai on May 9, 2020. - The first wave of a massive exercise to repatriate hundreds of thousands of Indians stuck abroad began May 7, with two flights landing in India from the United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Arun SANKAR / AFP)

New Delhi: The US body, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC )has included loss of smell and taste as an early symptom of COVID-19. It is said that loss of smell or taste is likely to occur by the third day after contracting the Coronavirus, younger patients and women are also more likely to experience a decreased loss of smell. A new study examined 103 patients to understand who was diagnosed with COVID-19. According to an IANS report, “We also found that the severity of the loss of smell is correlated with how bad your other COVID-19 symptoms will be. If the anosmia, also known as loss of smell, is worse, the patients reported worse shortness of breath and more severe fever and cough," said Ahmad Sedaghat, associate professor in the UC College of Medicine's Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. The study examined the characteristics and symptoms of patients over a six-week period at Kantonsspital Aarau in Aarau, Switzerland. Patients were asked how many days they had COVID-19 symptoms and also asked to describe the timing and severity of the loss or reduced sense of smell along with other symptoms. The mean onset for reduction or loss in the sense of smell was 3.4 days. At least 61 percent of the patients reported reduced or lost sense of smell, said Sedaghat. "The relationship between decreased sense of smell and the rest of the COVID-19 is something to be aware of. If someone has a decreased sense of smell with COVID-19 we know they are within the first week of the disease course and there is still another week or two to expect," suggested Sedaghat. The report also said that the anti-viral drug, remdesivir, developed by Gilead Sciences to initially treat Ebola, is showing some promise in treating COVID-19 patients. "Antiviral medications have historically worked best when given early during a viral infection. The same is hypothesized to be true for remdesivir," said Sedaghat.