YUCK!
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After a year of pandemic life, we know a few things for sure about the coronavirus. We know that it is usually characterized by fever, cough and shortness of breath, but please do not rule out the possibility of: chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, fatigue, new loss of taste or smell, gastrointestinal problems , nausea, vomiting, runny nose, congestion, painful injuries to the toes or, frustratingly, absence of any symptoms. This is a lot to note and, according to a UK analysis, we may be able to add another COVID-19 flag to the list: hearing loss. Never ends!
Specifically, the data – from 56 studies that mention hearing problems in people with confirmed coronavirus infections – point to side effects, including tinnitus, vertigo and hearing impairment. Adding the numbers of 24 of these studies, the scientists found a prevalence of almost 15% of tinnitus (ringing in the ears) and about 7% of incidence of hearing loss and vertigo, respectively. The review was based primarily on the medical records of COVID patients and their responses to questionnaires, and their authors requested clinical and diagnostic studies to investigate the apparent link.
“Although the evidence is of varying quality, more and more studies are being carried out, so the evidence base is growing,” Ibrahim Almufarrij, a Ph.D. researcher at the University of Manchester, said in a statement. “What we really need are studies that compare COVID-19 cases with controls, like patients admitted to hospitals with other health conditions.”
Still, Kevin Munro, the professor of audiology at the University of Manchester who is leading a year-long study analyzing the potential long-term effects of coronavirus on hearing, pointed out that hearing loss can occur during other viral infections, including measles and mumps and meningitis. “In the past few months, I received several emails from people who reported a change in their hearing, or tinnitus, after they had COVID-19,” he said. But, “although this is alarming,” he added, “caution is needed, as it is not clear whether changes in hearing are directly attributable to COVID-19 or other factors, such as emergency care treatments.” That is, as it often seems to be the case when it comes to the coronavirus, there is still a lot that we just don’t know.