Researchers say a number of patients diagnosed with Wuhan pneumonia (novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19) in the United Kingdom have recently developed “parosmia,” a rare condition that affects young diagnosed patients and health care workers in particular.
Nirmal Kumar, a physician and president of ENT UK, said the symptoms are very strange and rare, and pointed out that patients with “parosmia” experience hallucinations, distorted sense of smell, and smell pungent odors, which are quite annoying for some patients and have a great impact on their quality of life.
According to the report, Kumar was one of the first experts to suggest that “loss of taste or smell” could be a symptom of pneumonia in Wuhan in March this year.
In an interview, Kumar cited the cases of two mildly ill patients, one who said he smelled fish in an environment filled with other smells and the other who smelled something burning when there was no smoke around. Both patients were health care workers, and Kumar agreed that this particular symptom occurs in young patients, and that several health care workers were infected with the virus in the hospital.
The virus is called “neurotropic virus”, Kumar said, the virus is particularly close to the head nerve that controls the sense of smell, but may also affect other nerves. Kumar added that some patients are experiencing hallucinations, sleep disturbances and hearing problems, and the medical team is helping patients find ways to recover.
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