COVID-19 Viral Load in the Severity of and Recovery From Olfactory and Gustatory Dysfunction

Objectives/Hypothesis This study investigated olfactory and gustatory dysfunction in the 2020 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients, and their correlations with viral load evaluation. Study Design Prospective cross-sectional cohort study. Methods One hundred forty-three symptomatic patients being screened for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) were invited to participate. The clinical data of 83 confirmed COVID-19 subjects were collected, with 60 patients who were symptomatic but negative for COVID-19 recruited as controls. The prevalence and severity of and recovery time for olfactory and gustatory dysfunction, and cycle threshold (Ct) values from a SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction assay of nasopharyngeal and deep throat swabs were collected. Their correlations with Ct values were reported. Results Thirty-nine (47.0%) and 36 (43.4%) COVID-19 patients reported olfactory and gustatory dysfunction, respectively. The results of one-way analysis of variance did not show statistically significant relationships between the Ct values and severity of olfactory and gustatory dysfunction (P= .780 andP= .121, respectively). Among the COVID-19 patients who reported smell and taste loss, 28/39 (71.8%) and 30/36 (83.3%) experienced complete recovery, respectively. The mean recovery time was 10.3 +/- 8.1 days for olfactory dysfunction and 9.5 +/- 6.8 days for gustatory dysfunction. The recovery time was not correlated with the Ct values (Pearson correlation coefficient, smell: -0.008,P= .968; taste: -0.015,P= .940). Conclusions There is a high prevalence of olfactory and gustatory dysfunction in COVID-19. However, the severity of and recovery from these symptoms have no correlations with the viral load of SARS-CoV-2. Level of Evidence 4Laryngoscope, 2020