An important message to all ENT Members and their Departments (COVID-19 and ANOSMIA)

Dear All,
 
As you probably know, the Covid-19 epidemic has started a few weeks ago in France and has reached Paris since a few days. We have just started the lock-down in France (hopefully not too late…). Patients are usually suspected to be Covid positive in case of fever, cough, rhinitis, myalgia or breathing difficulties. The problem is that these symptoms are very common and not really specific.

However, we have observed a dozen of cases presenting with a sudden anosmia without any nasal obstruction as a first symptom that would appear a few days before the other symptoms. The fact that the coronavirus infection might lead to anosmia is not new but should be highlighted in the context.  As a consequence, this symptom could be more specific and could help to drive PCR testing especially among caregivers.

As an ENT, you may be the first to encounter a Covid-19 +ve patient with a high risk of contamination. Thus you should protect yourself (and the patient) if the reason of the consultation is anosmia.

Furthermore, NSAID and corticosteroids are not recommended for Covid treatment, and in this context a sudden anosmia should not be treated with oral corticosteroid. Based on our observation, the anosmia recovers in most cases within 7 days without any treatment.

Kindest regards
Pr. Yann Nguyen
Sorbonne Université / Service d’ORL
CHU Pitié Salpêtrière
Paris.