Have COVID-19 patients who lost their taste or smell recovered after 3 years?

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2023-11-10 03:00

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COVID-19 affected the sense of taste or smell in many patients early in the pandemic, but most got it back within three years, according to international research. The team recruited 100 people with mild COVID-19 and 100 who hadn't had the virus and tested their ability to taste and smell, testing the COVID-19 group again one, two and three years later. Among COVID-19 patients, 64.5% lost taste or smell to a degree, and 31.8% were still impacted a year later, 20.5% at two years and 15.9% at three years. The researchers say the number of people with altered taste or smell at the three-year follow-up was comparable to the number of people in the control group who had altered taste or smell, suggesting lingering COVID-19 symptoms were no longer having a recognisable impact.

Media release

From: JAMA

Smell and Taste Function 3 Years After Mild COVID-19

About The Study: There was a favorable evolution in smell and taste function throughout the observation period of this study, with taste dysfunction showing lower frequency and faster recovery compared with smell dysfunction in this analysis that included 88 cases and 88 controls. Recovery from smell dysfunction continued over the 3-year study period. At the 3-year study endpoint, smell dysfunction was comparable between both groups. Patients with post–COVID-19 condition exhibiting chemosensory alterations should be reassured that a recovery of smell function appears to continue over three years after initial infection.

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Research JAMA, Web page The URL will go live after the embargo ends

Journal/
conference: JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: University of Trieste, Italy

Funder: personal fees from Primavera, Kempten, Germany; and grants from Smell and Taste Lab, Geneva, Switzerland, during the conduct of the study; grants from Takasago, Paris, France; nonfinancial support from aspUraclip, Berlin, Germany; personal fees from Baia Foods, Madrid, Spain; personal fees from Frequency Therapeutics; and nonfinancial support from Bayer, Berlin, Germany outside the submitted work. No other disclosures were reported.

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