Loss of smell and taste — two of the earliest known, defining COVID-19 symptoms at the pandemic's onset — are now known to be common in 60.5 percent of diagnosed cases, according to new research from Mass General Brigham published June 2 in The Laryngoscope.
Researchers examined data from a 2021 Adult National Health Interview Survey and found that while these symptoms were common in most COVID cases studied, only 3.7 percent reported not recovering a sense of smell at all, and 2.6 percent reported not recovering their sense of taste.
Partial recovery was more common at 24.1 percent for sense of smell returning after being lost and a 20.6 percent recovery rate for partial sense of taste returning.
A majority of individuals who experience smell and taste loss during infection do eventually recover it. Although the two symptoms were also recently identified by NIH researchers as two of 12 common symptoms of long COVID — so their loss post-infection can take time to return.
This data differs from a report published in July 2022, which estimated that only around 5 percent of individuals with COVID-19 infections have experienced a loss of smell or taste.
"With this data we can understand, in big numbers, how many people lost their sense of smell or taste due to COVID infection and how many people never fully recovered those senses," Neil Bhattacharyya, MD, professor of otolaryngology at Mass Eye and Ear said in a statement
Researchers also note that the more severe a patient's reported COVID-19 case was, the higher the percentage of patients with smell or taste loss was also found to be.