1. Self-reported smell and taste changes are early indicators of the COVID- 1 19 pandemic and of the effectiveness of political decisions 2 3 4
- Author
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Pierron, Denis, Pereda-Loth, Veronica, Mantel, Marylou, Moranges, Maëlle, Bignon, Emmanuelle, Alva, Omar, Kabous, Julie, Heiske, Margit, Pacalon, Jody, David, Renaud, Dinnella, Caterina, Spinelli, Sara, Monteleone, Erminio, Farruggia, Michael, Cooper, Keiland, Hayes, John, Sell, Elizabeth, Thomas-Danguin, Thierry, Bakke, Alyssa, Parma, Valentina, Hayes, E, Letellier, Thierry, Ferdenzi, Camille, Golebiowski, Jérôme, Bensafi, Moustafa, Anthropologie Moléculaire et Imagerie de Synthèse (AMIS), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre de recherche en neurosciences de Lyon (CRNL), Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-Université Jean Monnet [Saint-Étienne] (UJM)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut de Chimie de Nice (ICN), Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (... - 2019) (UNS), COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA)-COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Côte d'Azur (UCA), Centre Mémoire de Ressources et de Recherche [Nice] (CMRR Nice), COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA)-COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA)-Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice (CHU Nice)-Université Côte d'Azur (UCA), Università degli Studi di Firenze = University of Florence [Firenze] (UNIFI), Yale University [New Haven], University of California [Irvine] (UCI), University of California, University of Pennsylvania [Philadelphia], Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation [Dijon] (CSGA), Université de Bourgogne (UB)-AgroSup Dijon - Institut National Supérieur des Sciences Agronomiques, de l'Alimentation et de l'Environnement-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), Penn State System, Temple University, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, and Projet Global Consortium for Chemosensory Research (GCCR).
- Subjects
[SDV.BIO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biotechnology ,[SDV.NEU.NB]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Neurons and Cognition [q-bio.NC]/Neurobiology ,[SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio] ,[SDV.NEU]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Neurons and Cognition [q-bio.NC] - Abstract
In response to the COVID-19, many governments have taken unprecedented measures in peacetime, to avoid an overflow of intensive care units and critical care resuscitation units (CCRUs). Due to the heavy societal and economic impact of measure such as the lockdown1, accurate means to characterize the spread of the disease would be extremely helpful for the reopening strategies. Concurrently, smell and taste changes have been identified as among the most specific symptoms of COVID-192,3. Here, we show that self-reports of smell/taste changes are more closely associated with hospital overload and are much earlier than the current governmental indicators. We also show a decrease of new onset as early as 5 days after the lockdown enforcement, which is consistent with a rapid effect of the lockdown on the pandemic. Cross-country comparisons show countries with the most stringent lockdown measures (France and Italy) present a faster decline in new reports of the onset of smell/taste changes after the lockdown than a country with less stringent measures (United Kingdom). Public health decision makers could thus monitor self-reported changes in the ability to smell or taste i/as an early and specific indicator of the COVID-19 pandemic, and ii/to evaluate the success of reopening strategies.
- Published
- 2020