New-Onset Ageusia among COVID-19 Patients- The Trend in the Indian Population

Introduction The COVID-19 virus has already caused a pandemic and needs no fresh introduction. Many studies in western literature have described the prevalence of anosmia and ageusia as symptoms of COVID-19. However, to our knowledge, there is no study describing the trend of new onset ageusia amongst covid positive patients in the Indian population. The objective of this study is to analyze the trend of new onset ageusia in COVID-19 affected individuals in the Indian population. Materials and Methods This is a retrospective observational study conducted in a treatment facility set up in Eastern part of India. The data was collected from Sep 2020 to Dec 2020. The study included 422 patients who were laboratory confirmed COVID-19 positive cases. Clinical data was extracted from the medical records of the patients. All the patients were treated as inpatients. The data was collected by Critical care specialist and Physician. All patients were classified as asymptomatic and symptomatic. The presence or absence of new onset ageusia was documented and statistically analyzed. Results Of 422 cases studied, 401 (95.0%) were male and 21 (5.0%) were female with the mean age of 37.9 ± 8.3 years. 147 (34.8%) were symptomatic and 275 (65.2%) were asymptomatic with 18 % (76/422) patients having ageusia in the study population. Conclusion The prevalence of ageusia amongst covid positive patients in Indian population is lesser as compared to reports in the western literature. The cause of this difference in prevalence of ageusia in different ethnicities is unknown. Apparently healthy individuals with new onset ageusia should be considered as asymptomatic covid carriers and should be treated accordingly.