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Published on: November 7, 2020
Features of anosmia in COVID-19
T Klopfenstein1, N J Kadiane-Oussou1, L Toko1
1Infectious Diseases Department, Nord Franche-Comté Hospital, 90400 Trévenans, France.
Background:
Medical publications about anosmia with COVID-19 are scarce. We aimed to describe the prevalence and features of anosmia in COVID-19 patients.
Methods:
We retrospectively included COVID-19 patients with anosmia between March 1st and March 17th, 2020. We used SARS-CoV-2 real time PCR in respiratory samples to confirm the cases.
Results:
Fifty-four of 114 patients (47%) with confirmed COVID-19 reported anosmia. Mean age of the 54 patients was 47 (±16) years; 67% were females and 37% were hospitalised. The median Charlson comorbidity index was 0.70 (±1.6 [0-7]). Forty-six patients (85%) had dysgeusia and 28% presented with pneumonia. Anosmia began 4.4 (±1.9 [1-8]) days after infection onset. The mean duration of anosmia was 8.9 (±6.3 [1-21]) days and 98% of patients recovered within 28 days.
Conclusions:
Anosmia was present in half of our European COVID-19 patients and was often associated with dysgeusia.
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