Abstract
Objectives: COVID-19 outbreak is a major pandemic affecting many people worldwide, including India. The main clinical features of this disease are cough, fever, and myalgia, and in some cases, breathing difficulty. There are many non-specific symptoms also. Loss of smell (Anosmia) is one of the non-specific clinical features in many patients. The main objective of this study is to diagnose COVID-19 disease in patients presenting with loss of smell, which helps in early isolation of the patient and prevents the spread of infection to others before the diagnosis of COVID-19 is confirmed by RTPCR, which may take 2–3 days. Another objective of this study is to know the factors that influence recovery from anosmia. Methods: Data was collected from 105 patients who attended Outpatient Department/COVID Ward in GITAM Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Rushikonda, Visakhapatnam, from April 2020 to August 2020. The follow-up study for factors influencing the recovery of anosmia was performed in 100 patients who tested positive for COVID-19 disease with loss of smell as a presenting feature. Results: Male, to female ratio of patients with upper respiratory infection and loss of smell was 64:36. Out of 105 patients, 27 were tested positive for COVID19. Thus, the prevalence of anosmia in COVID 19 patients was 28.35%. In the follow-up study, out of 100 patients, 34 patients showed complete recovery in 2 weeks, and 42 patients showed partial recovery in 2 weeks and complete recovery in 4 weeks, and 24 patients showed only partial or no recovery within 1 month from the onset of anosmia. Conclusions: The presence of anosmia can be considered as a non-specific clinical feature in COVID-19, and early identification and isolation of the patient will help in decreasing the spread of disease to other people before the COVID-19 diagnosis is confirmed. It also suggests that recovery from loss of smell is better in middle-aged and female patients. The recovery has been delayed in patients with comorbidities and older people.
Highlights
In December 2019, Pneumonia cases were identified in Hubei Province in China [1]
The follow-up study for factors influencing the recovery of anosmia was performed in 100 patients who tested positive for COVID-19 disease with loss of smell as a presenting feature
The presence of anosmia can be considered as a non-specific clinical feature in COVID-19, and early identification and isolation of the patient will help in decreasing the spread of disease to other people before the COVID-19 diagnosis is confirmed
Summary
In December 2019, Pneumonia cases were identified in Hubei Province in China [1]. The disease was caused by Novel Coronavirus, and later the disease omit was spread to the entire world and declared as a pandemic by the WHO [2]. This study aims to diagnose COVID-19 disease in patients presenting with loss of smell, which helps in early isolation of the patient and prevents the spread of disease to others before the diagnosis of COVID-19 confirmed by RTPCR, which may take 2–3 days Another aim of the study is to know the factors that influence recovery from anosmia. Recent studies have identified that sudden loss of smell (Anosmia) and loss of taste was significant symptoms in COVID19 infection [13]. These symptoms were found even in patients with no other symptoms/signs of URI. The treatment given to all the patients was [14] Doxycycline 100 mg BD for 5 days, Ivermectin 12 mg OD for 3 days, Montek LC OD for 5 days, Vitamin C OD for 10 days, nasal saline irrigation, topical nasal steroids, steam inhalation, multivitamins, and high protein diet
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