display
A disturbed sense of smell or even its complete loss is one of the most common symptoms of an infection with Sars-CoV-2.
Patients with a mild course of the disease are apparently particularly often affected, according to the conclusion of a European study presented in the Journal of Internal Medicine.
While most of the sick can smell again after an average of three weeks, some report months later of disturbed sensory perception.
The study by the scientists led by the physician Jerome Lechien from the University of Paris-Saclay included data from 2581 Covid 19 patients from 18 European hospitals, which were collected from March to June 2020.
Based on a survey, olfactory disorders occurred in the group with mild courses in 85.9 percent, in moderate cases in 4.5 percent and in the group with serious to critical courses in 6.9 percent.
According to those affected, it took an average of three weeks before they could smell normal again.
Almost a quarter of those affected stated that they still had an impaired sense of smell even after 60 days.
"Olfactory dysfunction is more common in mild Covid-19 forms than in moderate to severe forms, and 95 percent of patients regain their sense of smell six months after infection," the researchers concluded.
display
They suspect that the disturbance of the sense of smell, especially in mildly ill patients, could be due to a different response from the immune system than in severely ill patients.
According to the authors, another possibility is that the virus can damage the nerve cells in the olfactory bulb.
Further analyzes would have to be carried out to clarify this.
All developments on Corona in the live ticker: