ABSTRACT
The severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (commonly known as SARS-CoV-2) is a novel coronavirus (designated as 2019-nCoV), which was isolated for the first time after the Chinese health authorities reported a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Optimal management of the Coronavirus Disease-2019 disease is evolving quickly and treatment guidelines, based on scientific evidence and experts' opinions with clinical experience, are constantly being updated. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak as a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern". The total lack of immune protection brought about a severe spread of the contagion all over the world. For this reason, diagnostic tools, patient management and therapeutic approaches have been tested along the way, in the desperate race to break free from the widespread infection and its fatal respiratory complications. Current medical knowledge and research on severe and critical patients' management and experimental treatments are still evolving, but several protocols on minimizing risk of infection among the general population, patients and healthcare workers have been approved and diffused by International Health Authorities.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: To review the literature on the presence of two clinical manifestations in patients presenting COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) infection: loss of taste (ageusia) and loss of smell (anosmia). METHODS: PubMed and EMBASE were searched and studies were selected starting from November, 2019 until April 2020;also, the references of the selected articles were evaluated for methodological quality. RESULTS: Of the 19 studies analyzed, five were included to evaluate the presence of ageusia and/or anosmia as symptoms in patients who were tested and resulted positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In a total of 10,818 patients, 8,823 presented ageusia (81.6%;range 5.6%-88%) and 8,088 presented anosmia (74.8%;range 5.1-85.6%). Only one study recorded both symptoms with a percentage of 18.6%. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: This systematic review demonstrated significant presence of ageusia and anosmia in the patients with COVID-19 infection. These symptoms may be considered as the first manifestation of the infection.
ABSTRACT
Dentists have always been taught how to protect themselves and their patients from potential blood-borne pathogens, but the Coronavirus pandemic has brought a new unprecedented challenge to the world of dentistry;we therefore reviewed the literature to provide suggestions on how to accordingly change dental practice prevention.