Recovered Covid patients who lost their sense of smell and taste after becoming infected with the coronavirus may not see their senses return until after five months.
Anosmia, the loss or change of smell and taste, is formally recognized as a symptom of coronavirus infection.
Data from the Office for National Statistics shows that half of coronavirus patients develop symptoms, with 16 and 17 percent experiencing some form of loss of smell and taste, respectively.
Researchers from the University of Quebec studied 813 health workers who contracted Covid-19.
More than a third (38 percent) of those who lost their senses had not fully regained their taste after five months.
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Recovered Covid patients who lost their sense of smell and taste after becoming infected with the coronavirus may not see their senses return until after five months. Anosmia, the loss or change of smell and taste, is formally recognized as a symptom of coronavirus infection (stock)
Study participants all filled out questionnaires and completed home tests to evaluate their sense of taste and smell.
These were done an average of five months after catching Covid-19, and so the researchers can’t say if anosmia lasts longer, as the data doesn’t yet exist.
“Although COVID-19 is a new disease, previous research shows that most people lose their sense of smell and taste in the early stages of the disease,” said study author Dr. Johannes Frasnelli.
“We wanted to go further and see how long that loss of smell and taste lingers, and how severe it is in people with COVID-19.”
People rated their sense of smell and taste on a scale from 0 to 10, with zero being no feeling at all and 10 being a strong feeling.
The mean score for people recovering from Covid was an eight, while it was a nine for people before they became ill.
Of the 813 participants, 527 lost their taste during the first illness.
Thirty-eight percent (200 people) of them had not regained their taste five months later.
“Our results show that reduced sense of smell and taste may persist in some people with COVID-19,” said Dr. Frasnelli.
“This highlights the importance of following up on people who are infected, and the need for further research to discover the extent of neurological problems associated with COVID-19.”
The study has not yet been peer-reviewed and will be presented April 17-22 at the 73rd annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology.
Loss of smell and taste was officially recognized as a symptom of Covid on May 18, 2020, and has since become an integral part of the diagnostic process, as the NHS says the only three telltale signs of the disease are a fever and cough. or loss of taste and smell.
Researchers from King’s College London (KCL) recently called on policymakers to expand this set of recognized symptoms.
Researchers from the University of Quebec studied 813 health workers who contracted Covid-19. More than a third (38 percent) of those who lost their minds had not fully regained their taste (supply) after five months
They say adding fatigue, sore throat, headaches and diarrhea could track down “millions” of unconfirmed cases.
Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty is already under pressure to change the official Covid symptom list after results from a government-led study, REACT, revealed that thousands of infected people are slipping through the cracks due to the scary guidance.
The World Health Organization and US officials recognize other less common symptoms such as muscle pain and diarrhea.
But current testing and tracking rules mean that cotton swabs in the UK are only reserved for those with a fever, persistent cough, or loss of smell or taste.
Professor Tim Spector, chief scientist on the Zoe app and epidemiologist at King’s College London, said: “ We know from the beginning that testing for the classic triad of cough, fever and anosmia alone overlooked a significant proportion of positive cases. sees.
“We identified anosmia as a symptom in May, and our work has led the government to add it to the list; it is now clear that we need to add more.
“By inviting users who register new symptoms for a test, we have confirmed that there are many more symptoms of Covid.”
A group of 140 GPs in London echoed this sentiment, calling on health leaders to expand the number of recognized symptoms.
They say many patients with milder symptoms have not even thought they could have the virus and have not isolated themselves when they are most contagious.
The doctors add that they should encourage patients to lie to get a test, which is only available to those with the three recognized symptoms.
Expanding the runny nose scheme in the depth of winter would likely put tremendous strain on the UK Test and Trace system.
Top scientists have been campaigning for the official list to expand for months, after warning it won’t catch enough infections in the early stages.