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Los Angeles, Apr 28: People who experience loss of smell as one of the COVID-19 symptoms are likely to have a mild to moderate clinical course of the disease, according to a study which may help health care providers determine which patients require hospitalisation.

The findings, published in the journal International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology, follows an earlier study that validated the loss of smell and taste as indicators of infection with the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2.

According to the scientists from the University of California (UC) San Diego Health in the US, patients who reported loss of smell were 10 times less likely to be hospitalised for COVID-19 compared to those without the symptom.

"One of the immediate challenges for health care providers is to determine how to best treat persons infected by the novel coronavirus," said Carol Yan, first author of the current study and rhinologist from the UC San Diego Health.

"If they display no or mild symptoms, can they return home to self-quarantine or will they likely require hospitalisation? These are crucial questions for hospitals trying to efficiently and effectively allocate finite medical resources," Yan said.

The findings, according to the researchers, suggest that loss of smell may be predictive of a milder clinical course of COVID-19.

"What's notable in the new findings is that it appears that loss of smell may be a predictor that a SARS-CoV-2 infection will not be as severe, and less likely to require hospitalisation," Yan said.

"If an infected person loses that sense, it seems more likely they will experience milder symptoms, barring other underlying risk factors," she added.

Risk factors for COVID-19 previously reported by other studies include age, and underlying medical conditions, such as chronic lung disease, serious heart conditions, diabetes, and obesity.

In the current study, the scientists made a retrospective analysis between March 3 and April 8 including 169 patients who tested positive for COVID-19 at UC San Diego Health.

They assessed olfactory and gustatory data for 128 of the 169 patients, 26 of whom required hospitalisation.

According to the researchers, patients who were hospitalised for COVID-19 treatment were significantly less likely to report anosmia or loss of smell -- 26.9 per cent compared to 66.7 per cent for COVID-19-infected persons treated as outpatients.

Similar percentages were found for loss of taste, known as dysgeusia, they said.

"Patients who reported loss of smell were 10 times less likely to be admitted for COVID-19 compared to those without loss of smell," said study co-author Adam S. DeConde.

"Moreover, anosmia was not associated with any other measures typically related to the decision to admit, suggesting that it's truly an independent factor and may serve as a marker for milder manifestations of Covid-19," DeConde said.

The researchers suspect that the findings hint at some of the physiological characteristics of the infection.

"The site and dosage of the initial viral burden, along with the effectiveness of the host immune response, are all potentially important variables in determining the spread of the virus within a person and, ultimately, the clinical course of the infection," DeConde said.

If the SARS-CoV-2 virus initially concentrates in the nose and upper airway, where it impacts olfactory function, that may result in an infection that is less severe and sudden in onset, decreasing the risk of overwhelming the host immune response, respiratory failure, and hospitalisation, the scientists added.

"This is a hypothesis, but it's also similar to the concept underlying live vaccinations," DeConde explained.

"At low dosage and at a distant site of inoculation, the host can generate an immune response without severe infection," he added.

Loss of smell, according to the study, might also indicate a robust immune response which has been localised to the nasal passages, limiting effects elsewhere in the body.

Citing the limitations of the study, the scientists said they relied upon self-reporting of anosmia from participants, which posed a greater chance of recall bias among patients once they had been diagnosed with COVID-19.

They added that patients with more severe respiratory disease requiring hospitalisation may not be as likely to recognise or recall the loss of smell.

So the researchers said more expansive studies are needed for validating the results.

New Delhi, Jan 22: "Don't get into a trap. Your security is in your hands," the Border Security Force (BSF) has said issuing its social media rules for its officers and men. It has directed them not to use 42 mobile applications and show caution while using Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp.

"Be cautious while using social media," said the BSF in a circular issued recently.

"Before using WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms, one needs to keep in mind that you are border guarding force and Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules rule duly are applicable," it said.

It further pointed out that by commenting/writing about or forwarding unverified reports and rumours one violates laws of land.

"Several times unverified reports would be presented in way that they are absolutely true and start believing it. Seeing such post always use your commonsense and never get into the trap (sic.)," it state adding that the anti-national elements uses social media to propagate their agenda to cause unrest in India.

A picture clicked by Border Security Force personnel and posted on a social media platform remains there for always. Therefore, one should use officially approved pictures about any incident or untoward incidents related to Border Security Force, stated the circular. It pointed that unauthorised persons should not engage into taking pictures of the incidents.

It also highlighted how through social media, a few BSF personnel have fallen into trap of espionage racket carried out by enemy countries.

"Our security and respect is in our hands. Always think twice whether you are doing correct by accepting friendship requests from unknown persons, especially women and girls," it cautioned the troopers and officers.

It also highlighted that while going on leave and joining back the force, always follow the rules and regulations laid out for safety and security. "This is for your own safety," it stressed in the end.

The BSF has also issued a list of 42 mobile applications that needs to be completely avoided by serving BSF officers and jawans.

They are MI store, Weibo, Wechat, Shareit, Truecaller, UC News, UC Browser, Beautyplus, NewsDog, Viva Video - QU video Inc, Parallel Space, Apus Browser, Perfect Corp, Virus Cleaner - HI Security Lab, CM browser, MI Community, DU recorder, Vault Hide - No mobile Security, Youcam Makeup, Cachecleaner DU Apps Studio, DU battery saver, DU privacy, 360 security, DU Browser,Clean master - Cheeta Mobile, Baidu Translate, Wonder Camera - Bindu Inc, ES Ifle Explorer, Photo Wonder, QQ international , QQ music, QQ Mail, AA player, QQ News Feed, Wesync, QQ security Center, Selfie City, Mail Master, Mi Video Call -Xaomi and QQ launcher.

While Google is still working on a coronavirus screening and tracking website, Microsoft Bing team has already launched a web portal for tracking COVID-19 infections worldwide.

The website, accessible at bing.com/covid, provides up-to-date infection statistics for each country.

The COVID-19 Tracker currently lists 168,835 as total confirmed cases, 84,558 active cases, 77,761 recovered cases and 6,516 deaths.

There are at least 3,244 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus in the US and at least 61 deaths.

"Lots of Bing folks worked (from home) this past week to create a mapping and authoritative news resource for COVID19 info," Michael Schechter, General Manager for Bing Growth and Distribution at Microsoft, was quoted as saying in a ZDNet report on Sunday.

An interactive map allows site visitors to click on the country to see the specific number of cases and related articles from a variety of publishers.

Data is being aggregated from sources like the World Health Organization (WHO), the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

Microsoft announced the website two days after US President Donald Trump said Google has begun working on COVID-19-related portal for US citizens.

Google's website is being built by Verily, a subsidiary of Alphabet focused on healthcare services.

"More than 1,700 engineers are currently working on the site", Trump said during a press briefing last week.

The tool will triage people who are concerned about their COVID-19 risk into testing sites based on guidance from public health officials and test availability.

Initially, there was some confusion on Google's coronavirus portal but the company later announced that it is "partnering with the US Government in developing a nationwide website that includes information about COVID-19 symptoms, risk, and testing information."