Covid-19: Researchers study why some people lose their sense of smell. Read here

Some people lose their sense of smell due to COVID but recover within a few weeks. However, a small percentage of the population, about 5%, according to one study suffers from smell and taste loss months or years after being infected. Duke researchers may have figured out what happens in the noses of people who never recover, such as Sheehan. The procedure is described in a paper published in the journal "Science Translational Medicine" on December 21.

While the study's primary focus was on olfactory dysfunction, its findings also provided insight into the potential molecular processes underlying other extended Covid-19 symptoms like generalised weariness, shortness of breath, and brain fog. Loss of smell is one of the first symptoms associated with Covid-19 infection, said senior author and Duke associate professor Bradley Goldstein, M.D., PhD. According to him, many people who experience an altered sense of smell during the acute phase of viral infection recover in one to two weeks. He said, there is a need to figure out why this subset of people has persistent odour loss months to years after being infected with SARS-CoV2.

Goldstein and colleagues from Duke, Harvard, and UC San Diego examined olfactory epithelium tissues from 24 biopsies, including 9 people who experienced long-term smell loss following Covid-19.


The olfactory epithelium, which houses the nerve cells responsible for detecting odours, was the target of this biopsy-based method, which used advanced single-cell studies in collaboration with Harvard University's Sandeep Datta, M.D., PhD. The absence of detectable SARS-CoV-2 levels did not stop this unusual inflammatory process. The number of olfactory sensory neurons decreased as well, possibly as a result of inflammation's impact on the fragile tissue.

FAQs

Q1. How many people lose their sense of smell due to a COVID infection?
A small percentage of the population, about 5%, according to one study suffers from smell and taste loss months or years after being infected.

Q2. When did the Corona pandemic start?
The first time the virus appeared on a small scale was in November 2019, with the first large cluster appearing in December 2019 in Wuhan, China.