FORECAST [COVID-19]
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Finding Out if COVID-19 infection can be pREdicted by ChAnges in Smell and/or Taste
IRAS ID
282668
Contact name
Rachel L Batterham
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
UCL JRO
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 7 months, 27 days
Research summary
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation. To prevent spread of COVID-19 and limit the number of deaths it is important that people who have the infection self-isolate. At the moment the government advice is that people with either a persistent cough and/or fever, or temperature of 37.8°C or more, should self-isolate. However, new evidence suggest that COVID-19 can cause loss/reduced sense of smell and/or taste changes, often before, or without other symptoms. Currently, people with smell and/or taste changes are not advised to self-isolate and do not meet testing criteria. If they do indeed have COVID-19 they could pass this on to other people, so establishing whether these changes mean that they have COVID-19 is important to reduce the spread of this virus. \n\nThe overall aim of the FORECAST Study is to establish the importance of smell and taste changes in people with COVID-19 infection. Two separate patient groups will be studied. Adults in the with community with a loss/decreased sense of smell and/or taste in the previous 4 weeks recruited by GP text messages and patients admitted to UCLH and The Whittington Hospital with COVID-19 infections. The study will examine if people with new loss or reduced sense of smell and/or taste without fever and/or persistent cough have COVID-19 infection and if people with COVID-19 who report smell/taste changes have more or less severe disease that people with COVID-19 without these changes. This study will provide key information as to whether people who develop new onset loss/decrease in their sense of smell and/or taste are likely to have COVID-19 and thus should self-isolate to prevent spread of the disease.\n
REC name
London - Queen Square Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/HRA/1879
Date of REC Opinion
22 Apr 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion