Recovered Covid patients who lost their sense of smell and taste after becoming infected with the coronavirus could not see their senses return for up to five months.
Anosmia, loss or change in odor and taste, is formally recognized as a symptom of coronavirus infection.
Data from the Office for National Statistics show that half of coronavirus patients have symptoms, 16 and 17% of them experiencing some form of odor and taste loss, respectively.
Researchers at the University of Quebec studied 813 health workers who contracted Covid-19.
More than a third (38%) of those who lost their senses did not fully regain 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 could not see their senses return for up to five months. Anosmia, loss or change in smell and taste, is formally recognized as a symptom of coronavirus infection (stock)
Study participants completed all questionnaires and completed home tests to assess their sense of taste and smell.
These were done, on average, five months after taking Covid-19, and therefore researchers are unable to say whether anosmia lasts longer than this because data do not yet exist.
“While 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 this loss of smell and taste lasts and how severe it is in people with COVID-19.”
People rated their sense of smell and taste on a scale of 0 to 10, zero meaningless and 10 meaning a strong sense.
The average score for people who recovered from Covid was eight, while it was nine for people before they fell ill.
Of the 813 participants, 527 lost their sense of taste during the initial illness.
Thirty-eight percent (200 people) of them did not regain their sense of taste five months later.
“Our results show that a sense of smell and taste can persist in a number of people with COVID-19,” said Dr. Frasnelli.
This highlights the importance of follow-up with people who have been infected and the need for further research to discover the extent of the neurological problems associated with COVID-19.
The study has not yet been evaluated by colleagues and will be presented at the 73rd annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology on April 17-22.
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 fever, cough. or loss of taste and smell.
Researchers at King’s College London (KCL) have recently called for decision-makers to extend this set of recognized symptoms.
Researchers at the University of Quebec studied 813 health workers who contracted Covid-19. More than a third (38%) of those who lost their senses did not fully regain their taste after five months (stock)
They say the addition of fatigue, sore throat, headache and diarrhea would allow the detection of “millions” of unconfirmed cases.
Medical director Professor Chris Whitty is already under pressure to change the official list of Covid symptoms after the results of a government-led study, REACT, revealed that thousands of infected people slip through cracks due to narrow 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 tampons in the UK are only for people with a fever, continuous cough or loss of smell or taste.
Professor Tim Spector, a leading Zoe scientist and epidemiologist at King’s College London, said: “We know from the outset that only focusing tests on the classic triad of coughs, fevers and anosmia misses a significant proportion of positive cases.
“We identified anosmia as a symptom in May, and our work led the government to add it to the list; now it is clear that we need to add more.
“By inviting users who have any new symptoms to take a test, we have confirmed that there are many more symptoms of Covid.”
A group of 140 family doctors in London echoed this sentiment and called on health officials to extend the number of recognized symptoms.
They say that many patients with milder signs did not even think they might have the virus and did not self-isolate when they were most infectious.
Doctors add that they should encourage patients to lie for a test, which are available only to those with the three recognized symptoms.
Extending the scheme to include runny noses in the depths of winter would likely put a huge strain on the UK’s testing and tracking system.
Top scientists have been campaigning to expand the official list for months, after warning that it does not catch enough infections in the early stages.