New Covid-19 case makes testing for loss of smell symptom vital - expert

The school is the site of one of New Zealand's biggest coronavirus clusters.

The Marist College Covid-19 case announced yesterday shows just how important it is to test people with the loss of smell symptom, according to a Kiwi researcher.

The student’s diagnosis was uncovered as part of wider testing of the Auckland school’s community before they head back to school, with it being the site of one of New Zealand’s largest clusters.

Their only symptom was anosmia which is when a person loses their sense of smell.

Anosmia was added to New Zealand’s Covid-19 case definition recently, but it isn’t part of the testing criteria unless the person also has acute respiratory illness.

Dr Mei Peng, researcher at Otago University, is part of a global study on smell loss and its relation to the virus, but she's also doing local research here in New Zealand.

She says this Marist College case adds to the increasing body of evidence about the importance of testing anosmia patients.

“Anosmia could be an early or only sign of infection,” says Dr Peng.

“There is increasing evidence suggesting a need to include anosmia onto the test criteria. People with this symptom alone should be qualified for testing.”

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield yesterday said the student’s case shows why broader testing is so important. He has encouraged others from the Marist College community to go and get tested, but Dr Peng believes anosmia testing should be nationwide, as a symptom alone.

“We believe it is possible that there are positive cases that were not tested due to the absence of the 'typical' symptoms,” says Dr Peng.

"It would inform us our and our Government and also other countries to have better testing criteria because early on I had other people say they experienced the symptom, but they were not qualified to get a test.

“We can’t not just test people because they don't sneeze and cough.”

As well as the global research she is involved with, Dr Peng has sent out a questionnaire to around 100 Kiwis who have had Covid-19 to help decipher the symptom’s prevalence.

Though exact research results can't be revealed yet, she says many patients she and her colleague Professor Joanne Hort from Massey University have spoken with have experienced a loss of smell.

“Several people I’ve talked to had it as the only symptom throughout Covid and they didn't have it for anything else so they could walk around in the community carrying this virus without knowing,” she says.

"For some patients the loss of smell also often shows up as the first sign."

In order to complete the research accurately she says they need to gather more data.

"We really do need to have better understanding of the symptom of loss of smell. Urgently, we need to understand the diagnostic ratio of this symptom. Our study can be of help to this," says Dr Peng.

"The more people that fill out the survey the more reliable the results are."

Dr Peng says they are currently in talks with the Ministry of Health to gain access to more patients to complete their study. 

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