eprintid: 10111408 rev_number: 19 eprint_status: archive userid: 608 dir: disk0/10/11/14/08 datestamp: 2020-10-06 15:23:04 lastmod: 2021-09-26 23:20:17 status_changed: 2020-10-06 15:23:04 type: article metadata_visibility: show creators_name: Makaronidis, J creators_name: Mok, J creators_name: Balogun, N creators_name: Magee, CG creators_name: Omar, RZ creators_name: Carnemolla, A creators_name: Batterham, RL title: 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 ispublished: pub subjects: UCH divisions: UCL divisions: B02 divisions: C10 divisions: D17 divisions: G94 divisions: B04 divisions: C06 divisions: F61 keywords: Smell, SARS CoV 2, COVID 19, Virus testing, Taste, Sensory perception, Antibodies, Coughing note: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ abstract: 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 ± 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. date: 2020-10-01 date_type: published official_url: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003358 oa_status: green full_text_type: pub language: eng primo: open primo_central: open_green verified: verified_manual elements_id: 1816825 doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1003358 pii: PMEDICINE-D-20-02673 lyricists_name: Balogun, Nyaladzi lyricists_name: Batterham, Rachel lyricists_name: Carnemolla, Alisia lyricists_name: Makaronidis, Janine lyricists_name: Omar, Rumana lyricists_id: NNDEB03 lyricists_id: RBATT41 lyricists_id: ACARN59 lyricists_id: JMAKA63 lyricists_id: ROMAR78 actors_name: Flynn, Bernadette actors_id: BFFLY94 actors_role: owner full_text_status: public publication: PLOS Medicine volume: 17 number: 10 article_number: e1003358 event_location: United States citation: Makaronidis, J; Mok, J; Balogun, N; Magee, CG; Omar, RZ; Carnemolla, A; Batterham, RL; (2020) 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. PLOS Medicine , 17 (10) , Article e1003358. 10.1371/journal.pmed.1003358 <https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003358>. Green open access document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10111408/1/journal.pmed.1003358.pdf