Hearing Loss: An Odd Covid-19 Symptom We Overlooked
It appears suddenly in young people without any prior hearing problems [updated Sept].
A study published in the American Journal of Otolaryngology on 2nd April reported the first case of hearing loss in Covid-19. Among the 82 cases of Covid-19 in Thailand, an old female developed hearing loss. Her respiratory symptoms recovered, but hearing loss persisted, they found. “Probably, a neuro-auditory problem developed in the patient,” a research group in Turkey commented on the Thailand report. “Hearing loss in COVID-19 infection has never been reported in the literature so far.”
More Cases of Covid-19 Hearing Loss
A week later, another study on 20 Covid-19 symptomless cases found their hearing abilities worsened, based on multiple auditory tests, compared to controls. Patients were 20–50 years old and had no prior medical history of hearing problems. “The results of the current study showed that Covid-19 infection had deleterious effects on the hair cells in the cochlea,” the Egypt study concluded. “Moreover, the absence of the major symptoms does not guarantee a safe, healthy cochlear function.”
Cochlear is a spiral-shaped bone (purple in the figure) located in the inner ear. It is responsible for the…
