Nationnewslead reports that Scientists warn that many survivors of COVID-19 who lost their senses of taste and smell may not recover those senses after other symptoms of the disease might have disappeared.
According to preliminary data from clinicians, about a quarter of recovered COVID-19 patients say they regained their senses of taste and smell within two weeks of other symptoms disappearing.
Researchers, however, said long-term data is needed to determine when those who did not report an improvement in two weeks recovered their ability to taste and smell.
“It could take months, and some physicians say they may never recover those senses,” the scientists warned; adding, “This may put up more barriers to full recovery for COVID-19 patients, causing emotional distress and anxiety.”
Speaking to our correspondent on the issue, Public Health Physician, Dr. Helen Omuh, says loss of smell in COVID 19-is usually temporary and will be restored within two to four weeks.
Omuh, however, said if the loss of smell was not restored within two to four weeks, patients should see their clinicians for review as soon as possible to rule out the presence of other diseases.
She said impaired sense of smell could be prevented by people avoiding things that they are allergic to.
Omuh, who is a Deputy Director/Head of Department, Prevention, Care and Treatment at the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria, said loss of sense of smell, called anosmia, is one of the symptoms of coronavirus disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection.
“More than 50 percent of patients have been reported to develop the symptoms, making it more common than fever and cough.
“The exact mechanism is not known, but a team of international researchers, led by neuroscientists at Harvard Medical School, reported that the nerves responsible for smell (called olfactory sensory neurons) do not express the ACE2 receptor proteins required by the virus to enter cells.
