• Yuki Kasuga, Koji Nishimura, Hidetoshi Go, Kimitaka Nakazaki, Shoichi Shimizu, Koji Kanezawa, Makoto Tanaka, Takeshi Oshima, and Ichiro Morioka.
• Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
• J. Infect. Chemother. 2021 Jan 1; 27 (1): 110-112.

AbstractCoronavirus disease (COVID-19) is often characterized by abnormal olfactory and gustatory symptoms in adults; however, detailed studies on pediatric patients with COVID-19 are extremely limited. A 13-year-old Japanese girl presented with fever and cough, and after 2 days, her olfactory and taste sensations suddenly disappeared. A real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was performed using a nasopharyngeal swab. Because a positive result was seen, she was admitted on the 7th day of illness. On admission, the visual analogue scale (VAS) score for smell and taste was 0 of 100%. An intravenous olfaction test using prosultiamine (Alinamin test) was performed on the 15th day of illness to evaluate olfaction, and an increase in latency (33 seconds) and a decrease in duration (55 seconds) were observed. In the odor identification test using 12 different odor cards, only 7 odors were correctly identified. On the 18th day of illness, SARS-CoV-2 tested negative in the RT-PCR test; simultaneously, the VAS score for smell and taste fully improved to 100 of 100%. On the 77th day of illness, full recovery was confirmed in the Alinamin test (latency, 7 seconds; duration, 82 seconds). In this present case, an improvement in olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions was observed with negative results in RT-PCR test for SARS-CoV-2.Copyright © 2020 Japanese Society of Chemotherapy and The Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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