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Smell and taste changes are early indicators of the COVID-19 pandemic and political decision effectiveness
Pierron, Denis Pereda-Loth, Veronica Mantel, Marylou Moranges, Maëlle Bignon, Emmanuelle Alva, Omar Kabous, Julie Heiske, Margit Pacalon, Jody David, Renaud
Pierron, Denis
Pereda-Loth, Veronica
Mantel, Marylou
Moranges, Maëlle
Bignon, Emmanuelle
Alva, Omar
Kabous, Julie
Heiske, Margit
Pacalon, Jody
David, Renaud
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Journal article
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2020-10-14
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Psychology
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http://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18963-y
Abstract
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many governments have taken drastic measures to avoid an overflow of intensive care units. Accurate metrics of disease spread are critical for the reopening strategies. Here, we show that self-reports of smell/taste changes are more closely associated with hospital overload and are earlier markers of the spread of infection of SARS-CoV-2 than current governmental indicators. We also report a decrease in self-reports of new onset smell/taste changes as early as 5 days after lockdown enforcement. Cross-country comparisons demonstrate that countries that adopted the most stringent lockdown measures had faster declines in new reports of smell/taste changes following lockdown than a country that adopted less stringent lockdown measures. We propose that an increase in the incidence of sudden smell and taste change in the general population may be used as an indicator of COVID-19 spread in the population.
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Pierron, D., Pereda-Loth, V., Mantel, M. et al. Smell and taste changes are early indicators of the COVID-19 pandemic and political decision effectiveness. Nat Commun 11, 5152 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18963-y
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Nature Research
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Nature Communications, Vol. 11, Article number: 5152 (2020)
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