Dry Nose One Of The Earliest Signs Of COVID-19: Researchers

London: To date, we knew that a high temperature, continuous dry cough, and loss of sense to smell or taste are the major symptoms of COVID-19 infection.

However, now researchers in Spain have discovered that nearly 70 per cent of COVID-19 patients experienced dryness in their nasal cavity, before showing any other symptoms.

According to a report in Express.uk.com, Dr. Jordi Navarra, along with his team at the University of Barcelona, claimed that a dry nose might be a warning sign of COVID-19 infection that has been ignored so far.

The researchers said that other emergency symptoms including shortness of breath have ‘overshadowed’ the earliest sign of the infection i.e. a dry nose.

A majority of COVID-19 patients reported nasal symptoms either before or at the same time as the other symptoms.

On an average, the nasal symptoms lasted for 12 days and “predominately co-occurred with anosmia or hyposmia”.

While Anosmia refers to the loss of smell, hyposmia is a decreased sensitivity to smells.

“The presence of these nasal symptoms, and their early occurrence, could potentially facilitate early diagnosis of COVID-19,” said the researchers, as quoted in Express.uk.com.

Among the other, less common symptoms are:

• Aches and pains
• Sore throat
• Diarrhoea
• Conjunctivitis
• Headache
• Loss of taste or smell
• A rash on skin, or discolouration of fingers or toes

The serious symptoms include:

• Difficulty in breathing or shortness of breath
• Chest pain or pressure
• Loss of speech or movement