Makaronidis, J;
Firman, C;
Magee, CG;
Mok, J;
Balogun, N;
Lechner, M;
Carnemolla, A;
(2021)
Distorted chemosensory perception and female sex associate with persistent smell and/or taste loss in people with SARS-CoV-2 antibodies: a community based cohort study investigating clinical course and resolution of acute smell and/or taste loss in people with and without SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in London, UK.
BMC Infectious Diseases
, 21
, Article 221. 10.1186/s12879-021-05927-w.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Loss of smell and/or taste are cardinal symptoms of COVID-19. 'Long-COVID', persistence of symptoms, affects around one fifth of people. However, data regarding the clinical resolution of loss of smell and/or taste are lacking. In this study we assess smell and taste loss resolution at 4-6 week follow-up, aim to identify risk factors for persistent smell loss and describe smell loss as a feature of long-COVID in a community cohort in London with known SARS-CoV-2 IgG/IgM antibody status. We also compare subjective and objective smell assessments in a subset of participants. METHODS: Four hundred sixty-seven participants with acute loss of smell and/or taste who had undergone SARS-CoV-2 IgG/IgM antibody testing 4-6 weeks earlier completed a follow-up questionnaire about resolution of their symptoms. A subsample of 50 participants completed an objective olfactory test and results were compared to subjective smell evaluations. RESULTS: People with SARS-CoV-2 antibodies with an acute loss of sense of smell and taste were significantly less likely to recover their sense of smell/taste than people who were seronegative (smell recovery: 57.7% vs. 72.1%, p = 0.027. taste recovery 66.2% vs. 80.3%, p = 0.017). In SARS-CoV-2 positive participants, a higher percentage of male participants reported full resolution of smell loss (72.8% vs. 51.4%; p < 0.001) compared to female participants, who were almost 2.5-times more likely to have ongoing smell loss after 4-6 weeks (OR 2.46, 95%CI 1.47-4.13, p = 0.001). Female participants with SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and unresolved smell loss and unresolved taste loss were significantly older (> 40 years) than those who reported full resolution. Participants who experienced parosmia reported lower smell recovery rates and participants with distorted taste perception lower taste recovery rates. Parosmia had a significant association to unresolved smell loss (OR 2.47, 95%CI 1.54-4.00, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Although smell and/or taste loss are often transient manifestations of COVID-19, 42% of participants had ongoing loss of smell, 34% loss of taste and 36% loss of smell and taste at 4-6 weeks follow-up, which constitute symptoms of 'long-COVID'. Females (particularly > 40 years) and people with a distorted perception of their sense of smell/taste are likely to benefit from prioritised early therapeutic interventions. TRIALS REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04377815 Date of registration: 23/04/2020.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Distorted chemosensory perception and female sex associate with persistent smell and/or taste loss in people with SARS-CoV-2 antibodies: a community based cohort study investigating clinical course and resolution of acute smell and/or taste loss in people with and without SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in London, UK |
| Location: | England |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1186/s12879-021-05927-w |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-021-05927-w |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19, Long COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 IgG/IgM, Smell loss, Smell recovery, Taste loss, Taste recovery |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Div of Medicine UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Div of Medicine > Experimental and Translational Medicine |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10122875 |
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