Back to Search
Start Over
Impairments in odour detection and hedonic ratings of unpleasant smells in asymptomatic university students as SARS-Cov-2 emerged locally.
- Source :
-
The European journal of neuroscience [Eur J Neurosci] 2021 Sep; Vol. 54 (6), pp. 6256-6266. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Sep 06. - Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- Sudden olfactory loss in the absence of concurrent nasal congestion is now a well-recognized symptom of COVID-19. We examined olfaction using standardized objective tests of odour detection, identification and hedonics collected from asymptomatic university students before and as SARS-CoV-2 emerged locally. Olfactory performance of students who were tested when the virus is known to be endemic (n = 22) was compared to students tested in the month prior to viral circulation (n = 25), a normative sample assessed during the previous 4 years (n = 272) and those tested in prior years during the same time period. Analyses showed significantly reduced odour detection for the virus exposed cohort compared to students tested before (t = 2.60; P = .01; d = 0.77; CI 0.17, 1.36) and to the normative sample (D = 0.38; P = .005). Odour identification scores were similar, but the exposed cohort rated odours as less unpleasant (P < .001, CLES = 0.77). Hyposmia increased 4.4-fold for students tested 2 weeks before school closure (N = 22) and increased 13.6-fold for students tested in the final week (N = 11). While the unavailability of COVID-19 testing is a limitation, this naturalistic study demonstrates week-by-week increase in hyposmia in asymptomatic students as a virus was circulating on campus, consistent with increasing airborne viral loads. The specific hedonic deficit in unpleasantness appraisal suggests a deficit in the TAAR olfactory receptor class, which conveys the social salience of odours. Assessment of odour detection and hedonic ratings may aid in early detection of SARS-CoV-2 exposure in asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic persons.<br /> (© 2021 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)
- Subjects :
- COVID-19 Testing
Humans
Odorants
Smell
Students
Universities
COVID-19
SARS-CoV-2
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1460-9568
- Volume :
- 54
- Issue :
- 6
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- The European journal of neuroscience
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 34424569
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.15430