UK’s one of the leading Ear, Nose and Throat consultants has told a news agency that there are new signs for detecting COVID-19 in patients.
The British Association of Otorhinolaryngology (ENT UK) says that asymptomatic patients – ones who do not have a fever or a cough – could show a loss of smell or taste as symptoms after contracting coronavirus.
Statement says “Evidence from other countries that the entry point for the coronavirus is often in the eyes, nose and throat areas.
“We have also identified a new symptom (loss of sense of smell and taste) that may mean that people without other symptoms but with just the loss of this sense may have to self-isolate – again to reduce the spread of the virus.”
Current Public Health England guidelines say that a high temperature or new continuous cough are the only symptoms to trigger self-isolation and stop the spread of COVID-19.
Professor Nirmal Kumar consultant otolaryngologist and head and neck surgeon, said the nose was main entry point for the virus when we breathe in droplets infected with coronavirus.
He said: “In young patients, they do not have any significant symptoms such as the cough and fever, but they may have just the loss of sense of smell and taste, which suggests that these viruses are lodging in the nose.”
Dr Nathalie MacDermott, clinical lecturer at King’s College London said infections that normally occur through the “nose or the back of the throat” often lead to a loss in sense of smell and taste, but cautioned that research around the new symptoms for COVID-19 isn’t yet widespread in the medical community.