COVID-19, Anosmia, and Allergies: Is There a Relationship? A Pediatric Perspective (original) (raw)

Uncommon Presentation of COVID-19 in Pediatric Patients: Anosmia

Journal of Pediatric infectious diseases, 2021

Objective The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection was declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020 Although the complaint of anosmia is well described in adult patients, there is limited knowledge in pediatric patients We aim to evaluate the epidemiological characteristics and clinical findings of children with anosmia in COVID-19-positive pediatric patients Materials and Methods Patients diagnosed with COVID-19 infection at 1 month to 18 years of age, who admitted to Meram Faculty of Medicine of Necmettin Erbakan University between March and June 2020, were retrospectively reviewed, and the patients who had anosmia or developed anosmia during follow-up were then included in the study The diagnosis was established by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) Results A total of 71 patients were diagnosed with COVID-19 and 14 (19 7%) of them had anosmia Mean patient age was 14 07 (range: 10-16) years Six of our 14 (42 8%) patients had anosmia at the ...

Allergy and COVID-19

Acta bio-medica : Atenei Parmensis, 2021

The first cases of as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection have been reported in Wuhan, China in December 2019. The World Health Organization declared the global pandemic in March 2020. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) showed high rates of mortality in the adult population, whereas a mild course was observed in childhood. Allergic diseases, characterized by a type-2 polarization of the immune system, were considered one of the major risk factor of severe COVID-19. Large amounts of clinical data and expert opinions have been collected since the pandemic outbreak. This review summarizes the latest insights on COVID-19 and allergy. (www.actabiomedica.it)

Presentation of New Onset Anosmia During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Rhinology journal, 2020

Introduction: Anosmia has not been formally recognised as a symptom of COVID-19 infection. Growing anecdotal evidence suggests increasing incidence of cases of anosmia during the current pandemic, suggesting that COVID-19 may cause olfactory dysfunction. The objective was to characterise patients reporting new onset anosmia during the COVID-19 pandemic Methodology: Design: Survey of 2428 patients reporting new onset anosmia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Setting: Volunteer sample of patients seeking medical advice of recent onset self-diagnosed loss of sense of smell Results: 2428 surveys were completed within 7 days; 64% respondents were under 40. The majority of respondents reported onset of their anosmia in the last week. Of the cohort, 17% did not report any other symptom thought to be associated with COVID-19. In patients who reported other symptoms, 51% reported either cough or fever and therefore met current guidelines for self-isolation Conclusions: Anosmia is reported in conjunction with well-reported symptoms of coronas virus, but 1 in 6 patients with recent onset anosmia report this as an isolated symptom. This might help identify otherwise asymptomatic carriers of disease and trigger targeted testing. Further study with COVID-19 testing is required to identify the proportion of patients in whom new onset anosmia can be attributed to COVID-19

The Pattern of Anosmia in Non-hospitalized Patients in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-sectional Study

International Archives of Otorhinolaryngology, 2021

Introduction It is now evident that the loss of smell and/or taste may be consistent accompanying symptoms of the SARS-CoV-2 infection. Objective To estimate the social behavior of recent anosmic non-hospitalized patients in the COVID-19 pandemic and to try to obtain the natural pattern in society in a cross-sectional study. Methods A cross-sectional study conducted on 4,860 patients with anosmia complaints during the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients who needed a consultation for an anosmia complaint confirmed that they had completed the survey regarding age, gender, history of general diseases, history of nasal disease, associated COVID-19 symptoms, smoking, blood group, and risk factors. Results A total of 4,860 patients with a mean age of 34.26 ± 11.91 years completed the study. There was a predominance of female patients: 3,150 (58.9%). Most patients (4,083 patients; 83%) developed sudden anosmia. In 85% (4131 patients) of the patients, a previous history of contact with anosmic pati...

Anosmia, a Hidden Sign for COVID-19? A Case Report and Literature Review

Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an ongoing viral pandemic that is actively affecting 210 countries worldwide, with a total of more than 1.5 million cases and 106 000 deaths. Symptoms associated with COVID-19 are mainly fever, cough, dyspnea and sore throat. The current indication for COVID-19 testing includes presence of these symptoms with a positive history of travel to affected countries or contact with COVID-19 patients. Anosmia has been recently reported anecdotally over the past weeks as an emerging symptom of the COVID-19 but has yet to gain recognition as a symptom for COVID-19 by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This case report highlights a case of isolated sudden onset of anosmia as a presenting symptom of COVID-19 and relevant literature review supporting the incidence of anosmia in COVID-19. This is a first case report of anosmia in COVID-19 occurring in pregnancy.Case Presentation A 30-year-o...

Anosmia as a clinical predictor to non-fatal COVID-19 case and better survivability

Research, Society and Development

Recently, a respiratory infectious disease labeled as COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 had taken over the world by storm. This RNA virus can cause various symptoms such as malaise, anosmia, ageusia, fever, cough, headache, myalgia, diarrhea, and ARDS. COVID-19 patients have specific symptoms such as fever. In another study, it was said that anosmia could be a benchmark for screening for COVID-19. in a study of young patients and was more common in women. The average onset of anosmia occurs on day 4 after infection and lasts for 8 days. the evidence says that this disease can cause a decrease in a person's quality of life. The exact cause of anosmia is still unknown, but several theories suggest that anosmia can occur due to damage to nerve receptors, inflammation of olfactory epithelial cells, and dysfunction of nerve receptors. The popular theory is that anosmia occurs due to inflammation of the olfactory epithelial cells, thereby damaging the olfactory receptors. The inflammation...

Updates on Children with Allergic Rhinitis and Asthma during the COVID-19 Outbreak

Journal of Clinical Medicine, 2021

Background: During the lockdown period caused by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, we monitored via online survey the trend of allergic symptoms and the therapeutic compliance in patients followed at our center. Material and methods: In June 2020, we selected children followed at the Allergy and Immunology Service of Umberto I Hospital, aged between 6 and 16 years old, diagnosed with asthma and/or rhinitis and sensitized to grass pollen or dust mite. We sent an email with 12 multiple-choice questions investigating several areas: type of disease and sensitization, recurrence of symptoms, medication use during lockdown compared to the same period of the previous year. Results: The results of 82 questionnaires showed that 17.8% of patients suffered from asthma, 24.4% from rhinitis, and 57.8% from both. Within the group of asthmatic children, most of them presented an improvement of their symptoms. Likewise, with regard to allergic rhinitis, most of them reported better clinical conditions. Rega...

COVID-19-Induced Anosmia and Ageusia Are Associated With Younger Age and Lower Blood Eosinophil Counts

American Journal of Rhinology & Allergy

Background Anosmia and ageusia are symptoms commonly associated with COVID-19, but the relationship with disease severity, onset and recovery are unclear. Objective To examine factors associated with anosmia and ageusia and the recovery from these symptoms in an ethnically diverse cohort. Methods Individuals tested for SARS-CoV-2 between March and April 2020 were eligible for the study. Randomly selected participants answered a telephone questionnaire on COVID-19 symptoms with a focus on anosmia and ageusia. Additionally, relevant past medical history and data on the COVID-19 clinical course were obtained from electronic medical records. 486 patients were in the COVID-19 group and 103 were COVID-19-negative. Results Patients who were younger were more likely to report anosmia and/or ageusia (odds ratio (OR) for anosmia per 1-year increase in age: 0·98, 95%CI:0–97-0·99, p = 0·003; for ageusia: 0·98, 95%CI:0·97-0·99, p = 0·005) as were patients with lower eosinophil counts (OR for ano...

Does aeroallergen sensitivity and allergic rhinitis in children cause milder COVID-19 infection?

Allergy and Asthma Proceedings, 2021

Background: There are conflicting data with regard to the impact of respiratory and allergic comorbidities on the course of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in children. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between allergic diseases and COVID-19 severity in pediatric patients. Methods: Seventy-five pediatric patients with COVID-19 were classified according to clinical severity and evaluated in the allergy/immunology and pulmonology departments 1 to 3 months after the infection resolved. Blood was collected from the patients for a complete blood cell count and assessment of immunoglobulin and total immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels, and skin-prick tests and spirometry tests were performed. Results: A total of 75 patients ages 5‐18 years were evaluated. COVID-19 was asymptomatic/mild in 44 patients and moderate/severe/critical in 31 patients. Based on allergy evaluation, allergic rhinitis was diagnosed in 19 patients (25.3%), asthma in 10 patients (13%), an...

Anosmia in COVID-19 Patients: Can We Predict the Severity of Chest Manifestations

Introduction Anosmia is one of the common symptoms of COVID-19, the link between severity of chest infection and anosmia was investigated by few studies. Objectives To find an association between anosmia and severity of chest infection. Methods An analysis of patients admitted to isolation hospital of our university with confirmed polymerase chain reaction positive testing for COVID-19, between March 2021 until September 2021. We called all patients who reported anosmia during their time of illness and asked them about anosmia. We examined their chest CT. A statistical analysis was done. Results A total of 140 patients completed the study; 65% were female and 56.4% had complete anosmia. Anosmia was significantly associated with loss of taste. Smell returned in 92.5% of anosmic patients. Duration of smell loss was $ 2 weeks in 40.5%. The most common symptoms associated with anosmia were running nose, sore throat, fever, and cough. Loss of smell was significantly associated with mild chest disease. 73.4% of anosmic patients had mild chest infection, 21.5% of them had moderate infection, and 5.1% had severe chest infection. Conclusion The pattern of anosmia in COVID-19 patients has some common similarities in general; the way it starts, the associated symptoms, the time until smell returns and, the most important, the severity of chest infection. As anosmia is significantly associated with mild chest infection. the presence of anosmia could be an independent predictor of good COVID-19 outcome as reflected by a lower disease severity and less frequent ICU admissions.