Loss of smell, a preliminary indicator of COVID-19

Main Article Content

Salomón Waizel-Haiat
José Waizel-Bucay

Keywords

Smell, Olfaction Disorders, Coronavirus Infections, COVID-19

Abstract

Some reports have been recently published on olfactory loss in people with severe COVID-19. It is suggested to take into consideration the recommendations of the American Academy of Otolaryngology and the British Association of Otorhinolaryngology to include olfactory loss as an early clinical symptom of COVID-19 and consider sudden olfactory loss, as a high index of suspicion of SARS-CoV-2 infection. It can be established that the majority of patients with olfactory loss due to COVID-19, present hyposmia and not anosmia. Patients with olfactory loss, who had SARS-CoV-2 infection, should be classified as loss secondary to viral infection.

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