- The loss of smell may be an early warning of a novel coronavirus infection, recent reports have shown.
- Harvard researchers studied the genetics of the olfactory cells involved in the process of smelling and found a surprising explanation for COVID-19-related anosmia.
- The new virus might interact with a certain type of cell inside the olfactory epithelium, not the actual neurons involved in processing smell.
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Novel coronavirus infections have a few particularities that make them highly dangerous. The virus is extremely resilient and can survive for days on certain surfaces, which increases the risk of infection. The incubation period is relatively long, meaning you might not experience symptoms for as long as 2 weeks after contracting it. Finally, most common COVID-19 symptoms aren’t unique to this disease, so only a test will tell you for sure that you’ve got it as opposed to a cold or the flu.
However, doctors discovered two early warning signs that may point to coronavirus infection. These are anosmia and dysgeusia, or the loss of smell and taste. While not all COVID-19 patients might display these early signs, some of them experienced unusual changes in smell and taste, raising awareness among doctors. Researchers at Harvard looked for a scientific explanation as to what may happen inside the nose to lead to an early loss of smell with COVID-19, and they were able to explain the symptom.
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Researchers finally explained the weirdest coronavirus symptom originally appeared on BGR.com on Wed, 1 Apr 2020 at 11:53:13 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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