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Prevalence of Olfactory Dysfunction with the Omicron Variant of SARS-CoV-2: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

The omicron variant is thought to cause less olfactory dysfunction than previous variants of SARS-CoV-2, but the reported prevalence differs greatly between populations and studies. Our systematic review and meta-analysis provide information about regional differences in prevalence as well as an est...

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Autores principales: von Bartheld, Christopher S., Wang, Lingchen
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9774228/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36561176
http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2022.12.16.22283582
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author von Bartheld, Christopher S.
Wang, Lingchen
author_facet von Bartheld, Christopher S.
Wang, Lingchen
author_sort von Bartheld, Christopher S.
collection PubMed
description The omicron variant is thought to cause less olfactory dysfunction than previous variants of SARS-CoV-2, but the reported prevalence differs greatly between populations and studies. Our systematic review and meta-analysis provide information about regional differences in prevalence as well as an estimate of the global prevalence of olfactory dysfunction based on 62 studies reporting on 626,035 patients infected with the omicron variant. Our estimate of the omicron-induced prevalence of olfactory dysfunction in populations of European ancestry is 11.7%, while it is significantly lower in all other populations, ranging between 1.9% and 4.9%. When ethnic differences and population sizes are taken into account, the global prevalence of omicron-induced olfactory dysfunction in adults is estimated at 3.7%. Omicron’s effect on olfaction is twofold to tenfold lower than that of the alpha or delta variant, according to previous meta-analyses and our analysis of studies that directly compared prevalence of olfactory dysfunction between omicron and previous variants. The profile of prevalence differences between ethnicities mirrors the results of a recent genome-wide association study that implicated a gene locus encoding an odorant-metabolizing enzyme, UDP glycosyltransferase, to be linked to the extent of COVID-related loss of smell. Our analysis is consistent with the hypothesis that this enzyme contributes to the observed population differences.
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spelling pubmed-97742282022-12-23 Prevalence of Olfactory Dysfunction with the Omicron Variant of SARS-CoV-2: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis von Bartheld, Christopher S. Wang, Lingchen medRxiv Article The omicron variant is thought to cause less olfactory dysfunction than previous variants of SARS-CoV-2, but the reported prevalence differs greatly between populations and studies. Our systematic review and meta-analysis provide information about regional differences in prevalence as well as an estimate of the global prevalence of olfactory dysfunction based on 62 studies reporting on 626,035 patients infected with the omicron variant. Our estimate of the omicron-induced prevalence of olfactory dysfunction in populations of European ancestry is 11.7%, while it is significantly lower in all other populations, ranging between 1.9% and 4.9%. When ethnic differences and population sizes are taken into account, the global prevalence of omicron-induced olfactory dysfunction in adults is estimated at 3.7%. Omicron’s effect on olfaction is twofold to tenfold lower than that of the alpha or delta variant, according to previous meta-analyses and our analysis of studies that directly compared prevalence of olfactory dysfunction between omicron and previous variants. The profile of prevalence differences between ethnicities mirrors the results of a recent genome-wide association study that implicated a gene locus encoding an odorant-metabolizing enzyme, UDP glycosyltransferase, to be linked to the extent of COVID-related loss of smell. Our analysis is consistent with the hypothesis that this enzyme contributes to the observed population differences. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory 2023-01-19 /pmc/articles/PMC9774228/ /pubmed/36561176 http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2022.12.16.22283582 Text en https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) , which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.
spellingShingle Article
von Bartheld, Christopher S.
Wang, Lingchen
Prevalence of Olfactory Dysfunction with the Omicron Variant of SARS-CoV-2: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
title Prevalence of Olfactory Dysfunction with the Omicron Variant of SARS-CoV-2: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
title_full Prevalence of Olfactory Dysfunction with the Omicron Variant of SARS-CoV-2: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
title_fullStr Prevalence of Olfactory Dysfunction with the Omicron Variant of SARS-CoV-2: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
title_full_unstemmed Prevalence of Olfactory Dysfunction with the Omicron Variant of SARS-CoV-2: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
title_short Prevalence of Olfactory Dysfunction with the Omicron Variant of SARS-CoV-2: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
title_sort prevalence of olfactory dysfunction with the omicron variant of sars-cov-2: a systematic review and meta-analysis
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9774228/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36561176
http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2022.12.16.22283582
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