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In addition to flu-like symptoms, the loss of taste and smell is also one of the symptoms of a Covid 19 disease.
Researchers have now found this out in a first study about which the scientific news magazine “Science Daily” reports.
The good news: the loss is usually only temporary and with recovery, the senses are restored in most patients.
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In addition to the well-known flu-like symptoms, a Covid-19 disease also causes a loss of taste and smell in some cases. If you notice these symptoms in themselves, the risk of suffering from lung disease Covid-19 is ten times higher than that of another infectious disease, the researchers report. The study shows how often symptoms occur in Sars-CoV-2-positive people – and to what extent.
This is the conclusion of one of the first systematic studies on this topic, carried out by a research team led by Carol Yan, an ear, nose and throat specialist from the University of California in San Diego. For their study, the researchers examined 1,480 patients with flu-like symptoms who had been tested from March 3 to 29, 2020. The study included responses from 59 Covid-19 positive patients and 203 Covid-19 negative patients.
The two senses return relatively quickly
For those who reported a loss of sense of smell or taste, it was usually severe and not mild. It is encouraging that most patients regain both senses within two to four weeks. This period fits well with the typical course of recovery from the disease.
“At the time of the survey, more than 70 percent of Covid 19 patients with odor loss reported an improvement in their sense of smell. And among those who reported no improvement, there were many who had been diagnosed with the disease only recently, ”Professor Carol Yan is quoted in the journal Science Daily.
Test of smell and taste should become standard
The results of the study underline the importance of considering loss of taste and smell as a possible symptom of corona disease. At the University of California, visitors and staff are now to be examined for precisely these symptoms in order to reduce the risk of the virus spreading further. And also whoever is tested there for the virus should be asked by default whether he or she can still smell and taste normally.
This is what the researchers around Carol Yan all over the world want. “We hope that other institutions will follow up on our results – and not only recognize the loss of smell and taste as a symptom of Covid-19, but also include them in their tests for the virus,” says Yan.
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