<scp>COVID</scp>‐19 Viral Load in the Severity of and Recovery From Olfactory and Gustatory Dysfunction

<jats:sec><jats:title>Objectives/Hypothesis</jats:title><jats:p>This study investigated olfactory and gustatory dysfunction in the 2020 novel coronavirus disease (COVID‐19) patients, and their correlations with viral load evaluation.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Study Design</jats:title><jats:p>Prospective cross‐sectional cohort study.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods</jats:title><jats:p>One hundred forty‐three symptomatic patients being screened for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) were invited to participate. The clinical data of 83 confirmed COVID‐19 subjects were collected, with 60 patients who were symptomatic but negative for COVID‐19 recruited as controls. The prevalence and severity of and recovery time for olfactory and gustatory dysfunction, and cycle threshold (Ct) values from a SARS‐CoV‐2 polymerase chain reaction assay of nasopharyngeal and deep throat swabs were collected. Their correlations with Ct values were reported.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p>Thirty‐nine (47.0%) and 36 (43.4%) COVID‐19 patients reported olfactory and gustatory dysfunction, respectively. The results of one‐way analysis of variance did not show statistically significant relationships between the Ct values and severity of olfactory and gustatory dysfunction (<jats:italic>P</jats:italic> = .780 and <jats:italic>P</jats:italic> = .121, respectively). Among the COVID‐19 patients who reported smell and taste loss, 28/39 (71.8%) and 30/36 (83.3%) experienced complete recovery, respectively. The mean recovery time was 10.3 ± 8.1 days for olfactory dysfunction and 9.5 ± 6.8 days for gustatory dysfunction. The recovery time was not correlated with the Ct values (Pearson correlation coefficient, smell: −0.008, <jats:italic>P</jats:italic> = .968; taste: −0.015, <jats:italic>P</jats:italic> = .940).</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title><jats:p>There is a high prevalence of olfactory and gustatory dysfunction in COVID‐19. However, the severity of and recovery from these symptoms have no correlations with the viral load of SARS‐CoV‐2.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Level of Evidence</jats:title><jats:p>4 <jats:italic>Laryngoscope</jats:italic>, 130:2680–2685, 2020</jats:p></jats:sec>