Sense of smell or taste returns within six months for 4 out of every 5 COVID-19 survivors who have lost these senses, and those under 40 are more likely to recover these senses than older adults, an ongoing Virginia Commonwealth University study found.
Sense of smell or taste returns within six months for 4 out of every 5 COVID-19 survivors who have lost these senses, and those under 40 are more likely to recover these senses than older adults, an ongoing Virginia Commonwealth University study found.
Among 798 respondents to the ongoing COVID-19 smell and taste loss survey who had tested positive for COVID-19 and reported a loss of smell or taste, participants who were younger than 40 recovered their sense of smell at a higher rate than those older than 40, according to study results published in the American Journal of Otolaryngology last month. The VCU study requires survey participants to be 18 years or older.
Evan Reiter, M.D., medical director of the Smell and Taste Disorders Center at VCU Health and a co-investigator on the study, said the latest data show 4 in 5 participants, regardless of age, regained their smell and taste within six months.
“With our cohort, we did see about an 80% recovery rate in a six-month period or longer,” said Reiter, a professor and vice chair in the Department of Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery at the VCU School of Medicine. “However, 20% is still a lot of people, given the millions that have been afflicted with COVID-19.”
Read more at Virginia Commonwealth University
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