Survey: Two thirds of Covid-19 patients lost taste or smell

PanARMENIAN.Net - Loss of taste or smell does indeed seem to be a symptom of Covid-19 infection, researchers reported Wednesday, April 22, according t CNN.

A survey of more than 200 patients in Italy found that 67% reported an altered sense of taste or smell either right before or right after they tested positive for Covid-19.

Dr. Daniele Borsetto of Guy’s Hospital in London and colleagues said theirs was only the second medical study of what’s called anosmia, despite many stories from patients who say they have experienced it.

For their study, called the Sino-nasal Outcome Test 22 or SNOT-22, the researchers spoke to 202 Italian Covid-19 survivors by telephone. “Patients were contacted five to six days after the swab was performed,” they wrote in their report, published in the medical journal JAMA.

They found that 130 of the patients reported some sort of altered taste or smell. That’s 67%. A third also reported having had a blocked nose, which can alter taste and smell.

The loss of taste or smell is not necessarily a precursor to other symptoms. Only 12% reported it as their first symptom. About a quarter said they lost smell or taste along with their other symptoms and another 27% noticed it as the last symptom. Just 3% said it was their only symptom.