Marcel Levi is an internist, chairman of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) and professor of medicine at the University of Amsterdam.
How does smell and taste loss due to corona arise?
“The coronavirus infects cells that are next to the odor sensors in your nose. The virus then destroys those cells. This not only causes a loss of smell, but also a loss of taste. We taste for a very large part through our nose and only a small part through our tongue. Those damaged cells can repair themselves, but with some this happens faster than with others. It is not clear why this takes a long time for some people.”
What can you do if you suffer from loss of smell and taste?
“Above all, have patience. The smell and taste returns to almost everyone after a while. This is not the case with a small group of people. There are certain tricks that can help. For example, there is a kind of physiotherapy for your nose. You will then be given bottles with very strong scents to take home. By smelling this daily, you can train your nose. This can help to regain your sense of smell and taste. You can follow this treatment with an ENT specialist. Your GP can give you a referral.
Is it more common in certain corona variants?
“With the omikron variant, there seems to be hardly any loss of smell and taste. It is an ailment that belongs to the earlier variants of the corona virus.”
So if you do suffer from loss of smell and taste, you can say that you have (had) no omikron?
“Unfortunately, it’s not that black and white. You could suffer from it with omikron. But at the beginning of corona, almost everyone who was infected suffered from loss of smell and taste, which is no longer the case.”
Could it be that you will never be 100% the old when it comes to smell and taste?
“The virus has only been around for two years, so that makes it difficult to make a statement. There are indeed people who had corona at the very beginning and now still say that it has never become what it was. So it can take quite a while.”
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