Recovered Covid patients who have lost their sense of smell and taste after being infected with the coronavirus may find that their senses do not return for up to 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 show that half of coronavirus patients develop symptoms with 16 and 17 percent, 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 minds did not regain their taste after five months.
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Recovered Covid patients who have lost their sense of smell and taste after being infected with the coronavirus may find that their senses do not return for up to five months. Anosmia, the loss or change of smell and taste, is formally recognized as a symptom of coronavirus infection (stock)
Study participants all completed questionnaires and completed home tests to evaluate their taste and smell.
This was done on average five months after they captured Covid-19 and therefore the researchers could not say whether anosmia would last longer than that, as the 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 Dr. Johannes Frasnelli said.
“We wanted to go further to see how long the loss of smell and taste lasts, and how serious it is in people with COVID-19.”
People rated their sense of smell and taste on a scale of 0 to 10, with zero no sense at all and 10 meaning a strong sense.
The average 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 sense of taste during the initial illness.
Thirty-eight percent (200 people) of these did not regain their sense of taste five months later.
“Our results show that a weakened sense of smell and taste in some people with COVID-19 may persist,” said Dr. Frasnelli said.
“It highlights the importance of following up on infected people, 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The study has not yet been peer-reviewed and will be presented at the 73rd annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology between April 17 and 22.
Loss of smell and taste was officially recognized as a symptom of Covid on 18 May 2020 and has since become an integral part of the diagnostic process, as the NHS says the only three signs of the disease are fever, cough or loss of taste and smell.
Researchers at King’s College London (KCL) have recently called on policymakers to expand this range 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 did not regain their taste after five months (stock)
They say the addition of fatigue, sore throat, headaches and diarrhea can detect ‘millions’ of unconfirmed cases.
The chief medical officer, 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 were slipping through the cracks due to the close guidance.
The World Health Organization and US officials recognize other less common symptoms such as muscle aches and diarrhea.
According to current testing and detection rules, swabs in the UK are only reserved for people with fever, persistent cough or loss of smell or taste.
Professor Tim Spector, chief scientist of the Zoe app and an epidemiologist at King’s College London, said: ‘We know from the outset that only a significant proportion of positive cases have a strong focus on the classic triangle of cough, fever and anosmia mist.
‘We identified anosmia 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 report new symptoms to get a test, we’ve confirmed that there are many more symptoms of Covid.”
A group of 140 GPs in London confirm this sentiment and call on health chiefs to expand the number of recognized symptoms.
They say that many patients with milder signs did not even consider that they could have the virus and did not isolate themselves when they were 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.
The expansion of the plan to include runny noses in the depths of winter is likely to put tremendous pressure on the UK’s Test and Trace system.
Top scientists have been campaigning for months to expand the official list, after warning that it is not getting enough infections in the early stages.