You had Covid and you are still struggling with your sense of smell? You are not alone.
The spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) has been controlled to some extent, thanks to vaccination and practising safety measures. But the virus is not gone. New cases are still emerging globally, with some countries reporting an alarming rise in cases, like China.
Millions of people, who have had Covid, are still struggling with the long-term effects of the deadly virus. Researchers and experts are investigating the impacts of long-Covid.
A study, published on Thursday (July 28) tells that about 5 per cent of patients with confirmed cases of Covid are estimated to have suffered a long-lasting loss of smell or taste. Such cases are potentially contributing to the burden of long Covid.
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The lost sense of smell has been one of the major symptoms that act as an identifier for Covid. However, experts are probing how often symptoms like this occur or how long they can last.
But in the latest study published in The BMJ (the peer-reviewed medical journal of the British Medical Association), researchers have evaluated 18 previous studies of smell and taste loss across. The studies were conducted on several continents and in varying demographic groups involving 3,700 patients.
The study mentioned that about three-quarters of those affected by the loss of taste or smell regained those senses within 30 days.
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But also discovered that six months after contracting the virus, four per cent of patients had not recovered their sense of smell. Although, it was unclear if this represented a full or partial recovery.
It was also estimated in the study that loss of smell may persist in 5.6 per cent of patients. On the other hand, 4.4 per cent may not fully recover their sense of taste.
Danny Altmann, an immunologist at Imperial College London, said it was a “strong and important study”. Altmann is not involved in the research.
“Studies such as this alert us to the hidden burden out there of people suffering with persistent symptoms, but perhaps not having thought it worth contacting the GP on the assumption there wouldn’t be much to be done,” he said.
The data did not include which Covid variant the patients contracted.
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