Post-Vaccination Chemosensory Dysfunction: Changes Following SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination in a Global Study.
11 affiliations
- 1Indiana University School of Medicine Indianapolis Indiana USA.
- 2Department of Molecular Medicine University of Padova Padova Italy.
- 3Severtsov Institute of Ecology & Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences Moscow Russia.
- 4Centre de Recherche du CHU de Québec, Laval University Quebec Canada.
- 5Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland Brisbane Queensland Australia.
- 6Department of Neuroscience, Reproductive and Dentistry Science, ENT Unit Federico II University of Naples Naples Italy.
- 7Shiraz Institute for Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences Shiraz Iran.
- 8Food Quality and Technology, IRTA-Food Research Institute Monells Spain.
- 9The Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University Xi'an China.
- 10Monell Chemical Senses Center Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA.
- 11Science & Research, dsm-firmenich Satigny Switzerland.
Abstract
Objective
To assess post-vaccination changes in chemosensory function among individuals with and without COVID-19-related chemosensory impairment.Methods
In this global, multilingual online survey, participants reported vaccination status, vaccine side effects, and changes in smell and taste before and after each vaccine dose. Responses were collected between May 2022 and August 2023 through convenience sampling. Of 2955 responses, 1352 were included after applying exclusion criteria.Results
Pfizer-BioNTech accounted for 46.2% of vaccine doses, followed by Sputnik V (16.3%), Moderna (15.4%), AstraZeneca (8.9%), and Sinopharm (7.4%). More than 90% of participants reported no change in general smell or taste following vaccination, regardless of pre-existing chemosensory impairment. Among participants with qualitative chemosensory distortions, improvement was reported by 11%-18% for parosmia, 20%-29% for phantosmia, and 12%-21% for distorted taste, depending on vaccine dose, whereas worsening was reported by 3% or fewer. Side effects varied by vaccine type and were more frequent among individuals reporting worsened chemosensory symptoms.Conclusion
Most participants reported stable smell and taste perception following vaccination. A subset of individuals with qualitative chemosensory distortions reported improvement, while worsening was uncommon.
Related
- Which changes in adolescents' knowledge, attitudes, and practices following a school-based intervention in France increase HPV vaccination uptake and intentions? A mediation analysis
- Optimized Epitope-Flanking Sequences Enhance Antigen Presentation and T-Cell Responses Following mRNA Vaccination.
- Distinct transcriptional states of draining lymph node T cells following influenza vaccination in individuals with underrepresented ancestries
- Tfh dysfunction is associated with poor responses to HBV vaccination
- Recombinant GI-19 infectious bronchitis virus induction of humoral immunosuppression with reduced HI antibody response following Newcastle disease virus vaccination and bursal cell apoptosis
BibTeX
@article{koyama2026postvaccination,
title = {{Post-Vaccination Chemosensory Dysfunction: Changes Following SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination in a Global Study.}},
author = {Sachiko Koyama and Carla Mucignat-Caretta and Maria A Klyuchnikova and Tatiana K Laktionova and Svetlana Kopishinskaia and Ilya G Kvasha and Junpeng Ye and Elena Cantone and Shima Parsa and Maria Dolors Guàrdia and Valentin Hivert and Solal Chauquet and Jingguo Chen and Giulio Centorame and Valentina Parma and Kathrin Ohla and Vera V Voznessenskaya and Liang-Dar Hwang},
journal = {Laryngoscope investigative otolaryngology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1002/lio2.70589},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42898918},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Post-Vaccination Chemosensory Dysfunction: Changes Following SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination in a Global Study.
AU - Sachiko Koyama
AU - Carla Mucignat-Caretta
AU - Maria A Klyuchnikova
AU - Tatiana K Laktionova
AU - Svetlana Kopishinskaia
AU - Ilya G Kvasha
AU - Junpeng Ye
AU - Elena Cantone
AU - Shima Parsa
AU - Maria Dolors Guàrdia
AU - Valentin Hivert
AU - Solal Chauquet
AU - Jingguo Chen
AU - Giulio Centorame
AU - Valentina Parma
AU - Kathrin Ohla
AU - Vera V Voznessenskaya
AU - Liang-Dar Hwang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/19
JO - Laryngoscope investigative otolaryngology
DO - 10.1002/lio2.70589
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42898918
AB - Objective To assess post-vaccination changes in chemosensory function among individuals with and without COVID-19-related chemosensory impairment.Methods In this global, multilingual online survey, participants reported vaccination status, vaccine side effects, and changes in smell and taste before and after each vaccine dose. Responses were collected between May 2022 and August 2023 through convenience sampling. Of 2955 responses, 1352 were included after applying exclusion criteria.Results Pfizer-BioNTech accounted for 46.2% of vaccine doses, followed by Sputnik V (16.3%), Moderna (15.4%), AstraZeneca (8.9%), and Sinopharm (7.4%). More than 90% of participants reported no change in general smell or taste following vaccination, regardless of pre-existing chemosensory impairment. Among participants with qualitative chemosensory distortions, improvement was reported by 11%-18% for parosmia, 20%-29% for phantosmia, and 12%-21% for distorted taste, depending on vaccine dose, whereas worsening was reported by 3% or fewer. Side effects varied by vaccine type and were more frequent among individuals reporting worsened chemosensory symptoms.Conclusion Most participants reported stable smell and taste perception following vaccination. A subset of individuals with qualitative chemosensory distortions reported improvement, while worsening was uncommon.
SN - 2378-8038
ER -