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(Journalist)
– Small study outside of Europe is the first to examine how odor loss associated with COVID-19 differs from that caused by a severe cold or the flu – and findings strengthen theory that coronavirus infects the brain and the central nervous system, through a press release. A group of smell disorders experts performed smell and taste tests on a group of 30 participants: ten of them had had COVID-19 for about two weeks, 10 had had a bad cold and 10 had served as witnesses. The goal, according to study director Carl Philpott of Norwich Medical School, was to understand how a symptom common to the two diseases actually differs. According to their study in the journal Rhinology, they found three main deviations, in addition to the fact that the loss of smell tended to be more severe: with the loss of smell from COVID-19, the patient can breathe freely, usually does not have a stuffy nose or runny and cannot detect sweet or bitter tastes.
Philpott explains that “It has already been suggested that the COVID-19 virus affects the central nervous system, based on the neurological signs developed by some patients. There are also similarities to SARS, which is said to have entered the brain as well, possibly via odor receptors in the nose. Our results reflect, at least to some extent, a specific central nervous system involvement in some patients with COVID-19. “And he calls the results” very exciting “because they suggest that the smell and taste tests could be used for diagnostic purposes. Although they are not precise enough to replace the common swab test,” they could be an alternative when conventional tests are not available or when rapid testing is needed, especially at the primary care level, in emergency departments or at airports, “he says. (Read more stories about coronaviruses.)
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