Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Tianjin First Central Hospital, School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin 300192, China; Institute of Otolaryngology of Tianjin, Tianjin, China; Key Laboratory of Auditory Speech and Balance Medicine, Tianjin, China; Key Medical Discipline of Tianjin (Otolaryngology), Tianjin, China; Quality Control Centre of Otolaryngology, Tianjin, China.
Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Tianjin First Central Hospital, School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin 300192, China; Institute of Otolaryngology of Tianjin, Tianjin, China; Key Laboratory of Auditory Speech and Balance Medicine, Tianjin, China; Key Medical Discipline of Tianjin (Otolaryngology), Tianjin, China; Quality Control Centre of Otolaryngology, Tianjin, China.
Int J Infect Dis. 2022 Oct;123:17-24. doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2022.07.074. Epub 2022 Aug 2.
The mechanism of olfactory disorder (OD) in patients with COVID-19 is unclear. Our study aimed to elucidate the relationships between inflammatory factors and OD in a sample of patients infected with the Omicron variant, with a high vaccination rate in China.
The Sniffin' Sticks 12-item test was performed in a cross-sectional study of 148 recovered patients who were infected with the Omicron variant to evaluate OD severity. We compared demographic, laboratory, and clinical data.
A total of 148 patients infected with the Omicron variant were enrolled. A total of 129 cases of OD were detected. Increased inflammation contributed to OD severity, especially in the adult group. OD was shown to be aggravated by an increase in interleukin-6 levels. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) was 2.22 (95% confidence interval 0.98-5.05, P = 0.056) after adjustment for age, sex, and vaccine characteristics.
These findings indicated that the prevalence of OD remains high in vaccinated patients infected with the Omicron variant and that the Sniffin' Sticks 12-item test might be a feasible method to screen for OD. Interleukin-6 may play a role in the biochemical and pathological processes underlying OD.
COVID-19 患者嗅觉障碍（OD）的机制尚不清楚。本研究旨在阐明在中国高疫苗接种率的情况下，奥密克戎变异株感染患者中炎症因子与 OD 之间的关系。
对 148 例奥密克戎变异株感染康复患者进行横断面研究，使用 Sniffin' Sticks 12 项测试评估 OD 严重程度。比较了人口统计学、实验室和临床数据。
共纳入 148 例奥密克戎变异株感染患者。共检测到 129 例 OD。炎症增加与 OD 严重程度相关，尤其是在成年组。白细胞介素 6 水平升高表明 OD 加重。调整年龄、性别和疫苗特征后，调整后的优势比（OR）为 2.22（95%置信区间 0.98-5.05，P=0.056）。
这些发现表明，接种疫苗的奥密克戎变异株感染患者中 OD 的患病率仍然很高，Sniffin' Sticks 12 项测试可能是一种筛查 OD 的可行方法。白细胞介素 6 可能在 OD 的生化和病理过程中发挥作用。
