(Newser)
– An audiology professor who co-authored a paper on COVID-19 and tinnitus, which was published Monday, received quite a response: about 100 emails in 24 hours, says Kevin Munro of University of Manchester. New York Times. “Almost everyone was saying, ‘I was so happy to read about it, because my doctor thought I was crazy when I mentioned tinnitus, and now I know I’m not the only one. “Although the constant ringing of the ears is not listed by the WHO or the CDC as a symptom of COVID-19 (the UK NHS includes it on a list of symptoms of long carriers), it turns out that it could be one and the possibility of attracting attention after Thursday’s suicide of Texas Roadhouse chief executive Kent Taylor, whose family said he took his own life after “unbearably” suffering from COVID-19-related symptoms, including severe tinnitus.
Times look at the evidence. There is Munro’s newspaper for one, published on Monday in Journal of International Audiology. He reviewed COVID-19 reports and case studies by December 2020 and found that “tinnitus is the most commonly documented audio-vestibular symptom … with an estimated prevalence of 14.8%.” That being said, the authors called for caution because of several points, including that some studies relied on national tinnitus associations to reach participants. They noted that although they found no reports of audio-vestibular symptoms related to previously known coronaviruses, such as SARS and MERS, other viruses such as measles and rubella are associated with hearing loss. Washington Post he looks at theories about what might be at stake, including the impact of viral inflammation on the inner ear. (Read more tinnitus stories.)