Coronavirus: They reveal how long the loss of smell and taste of infected people can last

The loss of smell and taste can last for up to five months after infection with COVID-19, according to a preliminary study published in recent hours. The final results of the work will be presented in April at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology.

Johannes Frasnelli, from the University of Quebec in Trois-Rivières (Canada) and one of the authors of this study, recalls that, although covid-19 is a new disease, previous research had already shown that many people infected lose the reason for smell and taste in the early stages of it.

According to the scientist in a press release from the American Academy of Neurology, the goal of this new work has been to go further and observe how long this loss of smell and taste persists, and at what point it is serious. To do this, 813 health workers who tested positive for covid-19 participated in the research; each person completed a questionnaire and then had a home test to assess their sense of taste and smell on average five months after diagnosis.

Patients rated their senses of taste and smell on a scale of 0 to 10: 0 meant they had no sense at all and 10 meant a strong sense of taste or smell. A total of 580 people lost their sense of smell during the initial illness. Of this group, 297 participants (51%) said they still had not regained their sense of smell five months later. On average, people rated their sense of smell to be 7 out of 10 after illness, compared to 9 out of 10 before getting sick.

A total of 527 participants lost their sense of taste during the initial illness; of this group, 200 people (38%) said they had not regained their sense of taste five months later. On average, people rated their sense of taste as 8 out of 10 after illness, compared to 9 out of 10 before getting sick.

“Our results show that altered smell and taste can persist in a number of people with COVID-19,” says Frasnelli. For this researcher, this underscores the importance of monitoring those infected and the need for further research to discover the extent of neurological problems associated with the disease.

The researchers recognize some limitations of this study, including the subjective nature of the smell and taste.