Loss Of Smell And Taste Added To Coronavirus Symptoms

Union Health Ministry on Saturday added loss of smell (anosmia) and loss of taste (ageusia) in the list of symptoms of COVID-19.

Union Health Ministry in its report titled 'Clinical Management Protocol: COVID-19' said that COVID-19 patients reporting to various treatment facilities have reported signs and symptoms including fever, cough, fatigue, shortness of breath, expectoration, myalgia, rhinorrhea, sore throat, diarrhoea.

The ministry said loss of smell or loss of taste preceding the onset of respiratory symptoms has also been reported among Covid-19 patient cases.

Older people and immune-suppressed patients in particular may present typical symptoms such as fatigue, reduced alertness, reduced mobility, diarrhoea, loss of appetite, delirium. Children might not have reported fever or cough as frequently as adults, said the Ministry.

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"As per data from Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP)/Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) portal, case investigation forms for COVID-19 (15,366), the details on the signs and symptoms reported are (as on June 11, 2020), fever (27 per cent), cough (21 per cent), sore throat (10 per cent), breathlessness (8 per cent), weakness (7 per cent), running nose (3 per cent) and others (24 per cent)," says the guideline.

The issue was discussed in a meeting of the National Task Force on COVID-19 held last Sunday, but no consensus on the matter has been reached yet.

"At the meeting, some members suggested including loss of taste and smell in the eligibility criteria for COVID-19 testing stating that several patients have been reporting symptoms like these," a source in the health ministry said.

According to an expert, even though the symptom is not specific to COVID-19 as one may suffer from loss of smell and taste when they have flu or influenza, it could be one of the early signs of the onset of the disease and prompt detection may help in early treatment.

The US' national public health institute the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had in early May incorporated "a new loss of taste or smell" in the list of COVID-19 symptoms.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research's revised testing strategy for COVID-19 issued on May 18, all returnees and migrants with symptoms of influenza-like illness (ILI) are to be tested within seven days of the onset of the trails.

All hospitalised patients who develop ILI symptoms and frontline workers involved in containment and mitigation of COVID-19 having such symptoms will also be tested for COVID-19 through the RT-PCR test, it said, adding asymptomatic direct and high-risk contacts of a confirmed case has to be tested once between day five and 10 of coming in contact.

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Symptomatic ILI patients living in coronavirus hotspots or containment zones, all patients of severe acute respiratory infection (SARI), symptomatic healthcare workers also are eligible for testing as per the guidelines. 

(With agency inputs)