Long term recovery assessment of post-COVID-19 loss of taste and smell- A population-based survey

Abstract

Coronavirus Disease (COVID-2019) has remained a pandemic for more than two years and has badly affected human lives. It was a novel disease without even knowledge of its symptoms. It has caused millions of deaths all around the world. It involves multiple organ system with a variety of symptoms but sense of taste, smell, were commonly affected. This was a prospective population-based survey conducted by using a pre-defined questionnaire. About 218 COVID -19 RT-PCR positive patients were treated at home without any significant illness. There were 141 and 125 patients who recovered completely with return sense of smell and taste respectively, while 11 patients had both dysfunctional senses. Females had a significantly higher rate of complete recovery of sense of taste but smell had no association with gender. Our study showed a significant proportion of patients showing incomplete recovery of the taste and smell. Further studies on the neurological pathways are recommended to explore it in depth and develop interventions to cure the disability.