Can’t Smell and Taste Suddenly? It Can be Covid-19!

There is a surprising similarity between NBA player Rudy Gobert and Member of the UK Parliament and Health Minister, Nadine Dorries.

Both lost their senses of smell and taste at the beginning of their Covid-19 illness.

The complete loss of smell is called anosmia. If the damage is partial, it is called hyposmia. Lastly, the loss of taste is ageusia.

It turns out, many Covid-19 patients in South Korea, China, and Italy also developed anosmia and hyposmia.

How Do you Lose Smell and Taste with Covid-19?

The SARS-Cov-2 virus that causes Covid-19 multiplies fast in the nasopharynx or nasal cavity. In the upper part of the nasopharynx is the olfactory nerve that picks up all the smell and sends that signal to the brain. The sense of smell also plays a role in taste.

As the Covid-19 virus multiplies in the nose, it affects the olfactory nerve, and it either loses its function fully or partially.

It may sound unusual, but anosmia from viral infections are actually common.

The British Association of Otorhinolaryngology (ENT UK) said that 40% of anosmia in adults are secondary to viral infections.

At the beginning of the epidemic in China, a significant number of doctors who died in China were anesthesiologists, critical care doctors, eye doctors, and ear, nose, and throat doctors. All of them are involved with procedures around the nose.

As the virus spread overseas, doctors in Iran, the US, France, and Northern Italy also discovered many patients with anosmia and loss of taste.

Warnings from Different Specialties

ENT groups in the UK, Neurosurgeons from Stanford, and the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and Australian Society of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, sent out a warning to observe precautions in doing surgery in patients with complaints of loss of smell to prevent getting infected.

What is the significance of the Loss of Smell and Taste in this Pandemic?

The SARS-Cov-2 multiplies rapidly in the nasal cavity before any symptoms begin. [1] People with very mild symptoms may not think they are sick but are actually highly infectious.

The presence of asymptomatic carriers and spreaders may explain the rapid spread of the disease. The inability to identify the source of infections makes it doubly challenging to contain the epidemic.

What should I do if I lose my sense of smell or taste?

1. Consider the possibility that you may have the beginnings of a Covid-19 infection even in the absence of other respiratory tract symptoms like runny nose, nasal congestion, cough, sneezing, or shortness of breath.
2. Call your physician and ask if you need to be tested.
3. Practice social isolation to prevent spreading any virus
4. If you develop any respiratory symptoms you may need a test for Covid-19.
5. Wear a mask or anything to cover the mouth like a scarf to block droplets.
6. If someone you know who suddenly has anosmia, remind them of 1-4.

Related:

1. The Complete Covid-19 Articles
2. New Study Explains the Rapid Spread of Covid-19
3. The Secondary Attack Rate of Covid-19
4. 5 Reasons why Covid-19 Spreads Fast
5. New Covid-19 data confirms the need for 2-week Quarantine
6. The Covid-19 can Attack the Brain
7. The Covid-19 is still present after the illness
8. You Can Become Infected by the Coronavirus Thru the Eyes!
9. Asymptomatic is not Always what it Seems.

 

References:

1. Zou L, Ruan F, Huang M, et al. SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load in Upper Respiratory Specimens of Infected Patients. N. Engl J Med. 2020 Mar 19;382(12):1177-1179. doi: 10.1056/NEJMc2001737. Epub 2020 Feb 19.
2. Woelfel et al. Clinical presentation and virological assessment of hospitalized cases of coronavirus disease 2019 in a travel-associated transmission cluster. medRxiv. BMJ Yale. Cold Springs Harbor. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.05.2003

Image Credit:

Olfactory  nerve: By Patrick J. Lynch, medical illustrator – Patrick J. Lynch, medical illustrator, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1498125