Smell, Taste Loss Less Likely With Newer COVID Variants

By Robert Preidt HealthDay Reporter

HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, May 11, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Since the early days of the pandemic, lack of odor and style have been tied to COVID-19 an infection. But a brand new examine exhibits these telltale traits are a lot much less possible with the Omicron variant than the sooner Alpha and Delta variations of the coronavirus.

The findings are vital in figuring out whether or not somebody has COVID-19, mentioned lead examine writer Dr. Daniel Coelho. He is a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, in Richmond.

“Loss of odor and style remains to be a great indicator of a COVID-19 an infection, however the reverse is now not true,” Coelho mentioned in a college information launch. “Do not suppose you might be COVID-negative simply because your sense of odor and style is regular.”

For the examine, the researchers analyzed U.S. National Institutes of Health information on greater than 3.5 million COVID-19 circumstances for the reason that begin of the pandemic. They pinpointed six-week durations the place circumstances have been highest for every variant studied, then in contrast what number of sufferers have been recognized with odor and style loss in these time durations.

Rates of odor and style loss have been 17% for Omicron, in contrast with 44% for Delta and 50% for Alpha, the investigators discovered.

The examine was printed just lately within the journal Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery.

“As the pandemic continues and new variants emerge, this is excellent information for sufferers,” Coelho mentioned. “We now know that every variant has a special threat issue for related odor and style loss, and have purpose to imagine that newer variants are much less prone to impression odor and style.”

The impacts of the lack of odor and style are “not nearly with the ability to take pleasure in a advantageous bottle of wine once more; it is about security and preserving your high quality of life,” Coelho famous.

Their analysis exhibits that greater than half of individuals affected by odor and style loss have reported feeling depressed, he mentioned. “Patients with odor loss even have the next fee of dementia. Fewer folks experiencing these signs means fewer folks being impacted by temper modifications and cognitive issues,” he defined.

Continued

The examine additionally might assist efforts to determine what a part of the COVID-19 virus causes the lack of odor and style.

“Unlocking what causes odor and style loss within the first place will assist us higher decide learn how to deal with it,” Coelho mentioned.

The examine authors now plan to review how restoration time from odor and style loss varies amongst variants. They added that extra analysis is required to search out out if vaccination standing additionally performs a job in decrease charges of odor loss.

More data

NYU Langone Health appears on the mechanism behind COVID-related lack of odor.

SOURCE: Virginia Commonwealth University, information launch, May 10, 2022

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