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Laryngoscope
. 2021 Nov 23.
doi: 10.1002/lary.29964. Online ahead of print.
New onset of smell and taste loss are common findings also in patients with symptomatic COVID-19 after complete vaccination
Luigi Angelo Vaira 1 2 , Andrea De Vito 3 , Jerome R Lechien 4 5 , Carlos Miguel Chiesa-Estomba 4 6 , Miguel Mayo-Yàñez 7 , Christian Calvo-Henrìquez 8 , Sven Saussez 4 5 , Giordano Madeddu 3 , Sergio Babudieri 3 , Paolo Boscolo-Rizzo 9 , Claire Hopkins 10 , Giacomo De Riu 1
Affiliations
- PMID: 34812498
- DOI: 10.1002/lary.29964
Abstract
Objective: To investigate the clinical profile of patients who developed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) after full vaccination.
Methods: Demographic, epidemiological and clinical data were collected through medical records and online patient-reported outcome questionnaire from patients who developed symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection, confirmed by nasopharyngeal swab, at least two weeks after completion of vaccination.
Results: 153 subjects were included. The most frequent symptoms were: asthenia (82.4%), chemosensory dysfunction (63.4%), headache (59.5%), runny nose (58.2%), muscle pain (54.9%), loss of appetite (54.3%) and nasal obstruction (51.6%). Particularly, 62.3% and 53.6% of subjects reported olfactory and gustatory dysfunction, respectively. Symptom severity was mild or moderate in almost all cases.
Conclusions: Chemosensory dysfunctions have been observed to be a frequent symptom even in subjects who contracted the infection after full vaccination. For this reason, the sudden loss of smell and taste could continue to represent a useful and specific diagnostic marker to raise the suspicion of COVID-19 even in vaccinated subjects. In the future, it will be necessary to establish what the recovery rate is in these patients.
Keywords: COVID-19; ageusia; anosmia; gustatory dysfunction; olfactory dysfunction; vaccination.