Loss of smell may just be a hallmark of COVID-19, as medical professionals say an increasing number of other people inflamed with the virus are re-reporting the symptom.
In 2020, if other people lost their sense of smell, they were most likely left with the original virus. But newer variants, which add other subvariants of Omicron, haven’t caused the symptom as often.
However, the loss of smell may return, as the subvariant BA. 5, which can easily evade the body’s immune response, has the most frequent cause of new COVID-19 cases in the United States.
Valentina Parma, a psychologist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia who works with COVID patients, told NBC News she sees more people suffering from loss of smell earlier this year.
“What I see in my corner of the global is a peak,” he said.
Parma said those who reported a loss of smell were the ones who couldn’t smell at all. “But when you administer a smell test, we found that about 25 percent of people have an altered sense of smell, which is not a small problem. “number,” he said.
Parma added that the number of other people who reported a loss of smell is “significantly lower” than that of the Delta variant, which predominated in the United States in 2021.
It is known why some variants cause more loss of smell than others. However, studies suggest that loss of smell occurs when the virus infects nerve cells in the nose.
The first data from the French government of health published on July 15 revealed that other people inflamed with BA. 4 or BA. 5 were more likely to lose their smell or taste than those who were inflamed with BA. 1, one of the first subvariants. de Omicron. BA. 5 is not the most frequent cause of new cases of COVID-19 there lately.
However, there is no knowledge to verify that loss of smell is a feature of a BA. 5 infection.
Dr. Lora Bankova, an allergist and immunologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, told NBC News, “I’ve been talking to other people in general about the loss of their taste and smell over the past few years and it turns out there’s a slight increase, however, the knowledge is not. again. “
The symptom may be with rehabilitation of the sense of smell and nasal steroids, if administered immediately.
If other people suddenly lose their sense of smell and do not have a positive COVID-19 test, they report it to a doctor, as other diseases can lead to loss of smell, such as epilepsy and rhinitis.