TY  - JOUR
ID  - discovery10111408
Y1  - 2020/10/01/
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003358
TI  - Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in people with an acute loss in their sense of smell and/or taste in a community-based population in London, UK: An observational cohort study
N1  - This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images
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JF  - PLOS Medicine
VL  - 17
A1  - Makaronidis, J
A1  - Mok, J
A1  - Balogun, N
A1  - Magee, CG
A1  - Omar, RZ
A1  - Carnemolla, A
A1  - Batterham, RL
N2  - BACKGROUND: Loss of smell and taste are commonly reported symptoms associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); however, the seroprevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibodies in people with acute loss of smell and/or taste is unknown. The study aimed to determine the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in a community-based population with acute loss of smell and/or taste and to compare the frequency of COVID-19 associated symptoms in participants with and without SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. It also evaluated whether smell or taste loss are indicative of COVID-19 infection. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Text messages, sent via primary care centers in London, United Kingdom, invited people with loss of smell and/or taste in the preceding month, to participate. Recruitment took place between 23 April 2020 and 14 May 2020. A total of 590 participants enrolled via a web-based platform and responded to questions about loss of smell and taste and other COVID-19-related symptoms. Mean age was 39.4 years (SD ą 12.0) and 69.1% (n = 392) of participants were female. A total of 567 (96.1%) had a telemedicine consultation during which their COVID-19-related symptoms were verified and a lateral flow immunoassay test that detected SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin G (IgG) and immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies was undertaken under medical supervision. A total of 77.6% of 567 participants with acute smell and/or taste loss had SARS-CoV-2 antibodies; of these, 39.8% (n = 175) had neither cough nor fever. New loss of smell was more prevalent in participants with SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, compared with those without antibodies (93.4% versus 78.7%, p < 0.001), whereas taste loss was equally prevalent (90.2% versus 89.0%, p = 0.738). Seropositivity for SARS-CoV-2 was 3 times more likely in participants with smell loss (OR 2.86; 95% CI 1.27-6.36; p < 0.001) compared with those with taste loss. The limitations of this study are the lack of a general population control group, the self-reported nature of the smell and taste changes, and the fact our methodology does not take into account the possibility that a population subset may not seroconvert to develop SARS-CoV-2 antibodies post-COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that recent loss of smell is a highly specific COVID-19 symptom and should be considered more generally in guiding case isolation, testing, and treatment of COVID-19. TRIALS REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04377815.
KW  - Smell
KW  -  SARS CoV 2
KW  -  COVID 19
KW  -  Virus testing
KW  -  Taste
KW  -  Sensory perception
KW  -  Antibodies
KW  -  Coughing
IS  - 10
AV  - public
ER  -