Smell and taste changes provide early signs of the spread of the COVID-19 community: Study

Washington, November 12, (PTI) According to an international team of researchers, self-reporting of olfactory and taste changes is earlier in the spread of the new coronavirus than indicators based on hospital emergency room (ER) consultations. It may be an indicator of.

A team study published in the journal Nature Communications reported a decline in self-reports of olfactory and taste changes as early as five days after the blockade, and a more rapid decline in countries that adopted the strictest blockade. I am.

“In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many governments have taken drastic steps to prevent the intensive care unit from being overwhelmed by patients,” said study co-author Pennsylvania State University (Pennsylvania). John Hayes, a professor of food science at State University, said. In the United States.

“Our study suggests that an increased incidence of sudden olfactory and taste changes in the general population may indicate that COVID-19 is widespread,” Hayes said. Said.

Researchers have found that the findings help decision makers discover new outbreaks faster or guide local blockades to ease, given the strong impact of blockades on economic and social activity. We believe it will help us to take important steps at the local level.

In this study, scientists used data from a global consortium survey for chemical sensory research. This is an online crowdsourcing survey of global crowdsourcing in over 35 languages.

The team also especially appreciated data from the French government, which has classified the various geographical areas of the country into red or green, in response to the COVID-19 epidemic since May 7, 2020.

Compared to the green area, the red area is characterized by high viral circulation, high hospital pressure, and reduced ability to test new cases, they said.

The researchers then compared the French data with the Italian and UK data. Each of these data implemented blockades at different times and at different levels of rigor.

“Our main purpose is to reduce self-reported olfactory and taste changes and hospital pressures such as COVID-related hospitalizations, critical care unit hospitalizations and mortality rates in each French province over the past three months. It was to test the association with the indicators. ” Veronica Peredaros, a research co-author at Paul Sabatier University of Toulouse III in France, said.

“Our second purpose was to investigate the temporal relationship between the peaks of olfactory and taste changes in the population and the peaks of COVID-19 cases, and the application of blockade measures,” Pereda Ross said. Mr. says.

Studies have found that changes in odor and taste are better correlated with the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in hospitals than in France. ”, General ER for ER consultations for suspicion of COVID-19 It is a current government index that looks at the ratio to consultation.

According to scientists, the onset of peak olfactory / taste changes appeared four days after the blockade was implemented.

In contrast, they said government indicators based on ER talks peaked 11 days after the blockade.

“Our findings are consistent with new data showing that COVID-19-related olfactory and taste changes occur in the first few days after infection,” Hayes said.

“They suggest that self-reporting of olfactory and taste changes is closely associated with hospital overload and is an early marker of SARS-CoV-2 infection spread,” he adds. It was.

Scientists believe that tracking changes in population odor and taste can monitor the likelihood of outbreaks and the short-term effectiveness of blockades. PTI VIS VIS

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Disclaimer:- This story has not been edited by Outlook staff and is automatically generated from the news agency feed. Source: PTI

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