Sense of taste may predict COVID-19 severity, study finds

May 25 (UPI) -- People with COVID-19 who have weaker taste buds before infection are more likely to require hospital treatment and experience symptoms for a longer period than those with a stronger sense of taste, a study published Tuesday by JAMA Network Open found.

After being infected, COVID-19 patients classified as "non-tasters" had a nearly four-fold higher risk for hospitalization than others with the virus, the data showed.

They also tended to suffer symptoms of the disease for, on average, more than three weeks, compared with fewer than two weeks for those with stronger taste senses, the researchers said.

"The results carry important implications," study co-author Dr. Henry P. Barham told UPI in an email.

Knowing that weakened taste buds may predict more severe illness "allows [those infected] to make more informed choices" about treatment, said Barham, a physician with Sinus and Nasal Specialists of Louisiana in Baton Rouge.

Losing the sense of taste or smell is fairly common among those infected with COVID-19, according to reports.

The symptoms affect up to 80% of those with the virus, research suggests.

However, this study suggests that those with weakened senses of taste before infection may be at increased risk for infection and severe illness from the virus, the researchers said.

For this study, Barham and his colleagues tested more than 1,900 adults for the presence of "bitter taste receptors" in their taste buds.

Bitter taste receptors are cells on the surface of the tongue that affect the taste buds' ability to perceive bitter or strong tastes.

Based on the presence of these cells, study participants were classified "super-tasters," "tasters" or "non-tasters," the researchers said.

Super-tasters have heightened responses to bitter tastes while tasters have more normal responses and non-tasters have weakened response, they said.

Of the 1,900-plus participants, 266 tested positive for COVID-19 and 55 required hospital care, the data showed.

Among the 55 hospitalized participants, 47 were non-tasters.

Non-tasters were 10 times more likely to become infected with COVID-19 and had a four-fold higher risk for hospitalization as a result, reseachers said.

The findings indicate that "the level of expression of bitter taste receptor[s] prior to infection ... is predictive of disease severity," Barham said.