This conclusion was made by a group of otolaryngologists from the Medical Center of the University of California (San Diego), whose article was published in the journal International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology.
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Earlier, loss of smell and taste was included in the list of initial symptoms of coronavirus infection. The authors of the article analyzed data on 169 patients with COVID-19, whose diagnosis was made between March 3 and April 8. During the examination, 128 of them provided information on whether they had a sense of smell and taste, or not. 26 patients subsequently required hospitalization due to worsening conditions.
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As a result, it turned out that patients with a severe course of the disease most often did not lose their sense of smell and taste, while patients with mild or moderate symptoms who recovered at home complained about the loss of these feelings. So, anosmia and dysgesia (loss of smell and taste) were observed only in 27% of patients who required hospitalization, and in almost 67% of those who treated at home.
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“Thus, normosmia (a normal sense of smell) can be considered an independent prognostic factor predicting the need for hospitalization with COVID-19. And the loss of smell is associated with a mild course of the disease, ”the authors concluded.
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They suggest that such a phenomenon can be explained as follows: if the virus is concentrated in the nose and upper respiratory tract from the very beginning, why the loss of smell occurs, this leads to the fact that the infection begins less sharply and proceeds less heavily, reducing the risk of excessive immune reactions and lesions of the lungs. “This is only a hypothesis, but it is consistent with the idea behind vaccination: low doses, a place of vaccination that is far from vital organs, and the body forms an immune response without the development of a serious infection,” said Adam DeConde, lead author of the article. )
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