Millions of Covid patients may have long term smell and taste problems

27 July 2022

More than two years on from first raising awareness of the link between Covid-19 and anosmia, Claire Hopkins and Nirmal Kumar have continued to study the prevalence of longer-lasting loss of smell and taste. This important study, published this week by The BMJ, suggests that there may be nearly one million cases of persistent olfactory dysfunction six months after infection in the UK alone. This will create a huge burden both for patients and ENT UK members, particularly given the paucity of effective treatment options. There are encouraging reports of ongoing recovery beyond this timepoint, so patients should be encouraged to remain hopeful and can be directed to AbScent and Fifth Sense for support. Further research is needed to develop therapeutic options; currently time really is the best medicine. ENT UK members and clinicians managing these patients have a significant addition to their clinical workload during recovery from the pandemic but the qualitative impacts on the lives of these patients have to be understood and measures to help or mitigate suffering will be greatly appreciated by our patients.