Incidence of Sino-Nasal Symptoms in COVID-19 Patients

Corona virus disease was first reported in December 2019 in Wuhan, China and is spreading across the world in an alarming fashion. To contain the spread, it is very important to identify the subtle/not readily apparent symptoms of COVID-19 at the earliest. The aim of the study is to determine the incidence duration progress of sino-nasal symptoms in COV 2 positive patients using SNAQ scoring. Patients who tested positive for SARS-COV 2 by RT-PCR and admitted in our hospital under category A (n = 382) were included in the study. A detailed history was collected from all the patients and sino-nasal assessment questionnaire (SNAQ) was provided to the patient with complaints of sinonasal symptoms and they were asked to fill the forms on day 3, 7 and 14. To identify the characteristics of sinonasal symptoms in COVID-19 patients with a history of smoking, smoking history was also collected in detail and patients were classified based on Brinkman’s index into mild, moderate and severe smokers. In this study, the incidence of sinonasal symptoms was 24%. Average SNAQ scoring on day 3 was 30.09 and on day 7 was 12.9 and day 14 is 3.8. There was a decline in score on day 7 compared to day 3 indicating symptoms decrease by day7. Average SNAQ scoring in non-smokers and mild and moderate smokers was 20.18, 34.11, 57.5 respectively. The SNAQ scoring in smokers was more than that of non-smokers and was also persistent for a longer duration compared to non-smokers. Sino-nasal symptoms catch our eye because it is an important route for transmission. Viral shedding from sinonasal tract may be an important source for transmission. History and degree of smoking should also be considered while dividing COVID-19 patients into categories.