Loss of smell & taste’ symptom; no HCQ for severely ill patients

Loss of smell & taste’ symptom; no HCQ for severely ill patients

Sushmi Dey@timesgroup.com

India has revised the protocol for clinical management of Covid-19 to include “loss of smell and taste” to the list of nine other symptoms and has also allowed use of investigational therapies like Remdesivir and off-label use of Tocilizumab and convalescent plasma therapy on specific groups of patients.

Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) continues as a repurposed drug but the new protocol suggests its use should be avoided in severely ill patients. The Centre’s revised clinical management protocol, however, has dropped antibiotic Azithromycin which was earlier suggested along with HCQ for serious Covid-19 patients.

Loss of smell and taste has been added to the list of symptoms after many patients were identified with such conditions in the initial stage. Many other health bodies across the world have also of late included this as a symptom of Covid-19 infection. Loss of smell and taste have been added as symptoms in addition to fever, cough, fatigue, shortness of breath, myalgia, rhinorrhea, expectoration, sore throat and diarrhoea