Hearing loss may be associated with coronavirus, study suggests

Researchers are investigate the possible long-term impact of coronavirus on hearing among people previously hospitalised with the virus, writes Samuel Lovett

A healthcare worker uses an ear thermometer to take the temperature of a patient (AFP via Getty Images)

Smell, taste, sight — if you’re Dominic Cummings — and now, it seems, hearing too.

The effects of Covid-19 on the body’s senses are well documented, but new research has suggested that hearing loss and other auditory problems may also be strongly associated with coronavirus.

Pooling data from 26 studies on Covid-19 and the auditory and vestibular systems, British researchers estimated that the prevalence of hearing loss among those infected is 7.6 per cent.

Some 14.8 per cent of people with coronavirus experience tinnitus, while the figure for vertigo stands at 7.2 per cent, according to the estimates.

The vestibular system includes the parts of the inner ear and brain that process the sensory information involved with controlling balance and eye movements.

Covid-19 is thought to have an impact on this neural pathway, and some people infected with the virus have reported eye-related symptoms, according to the Royal College of Ophthalmologists.

Read more

• Booking overseas summer holiday now would be premature, government warns
• Fears of police exodus after officers spend year ‘picking up pieces’ of rushed Covid laws
• Start preparing for next pandemic now, experts warn Boris Johnson

Last year, Mr Cummings — the former aide to prime minster Boris Johnson — infamously claimed that he had taken a 30-minute car to the town of Barnard Castle to test his eyesight, which had "been affected" by the virus.

Kevin Munro, professor of audiology at the University of Manchester and Manchester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) hearing health lead, said his team’s study highlighted the “need for a carefully conducted clinical and diagnostic study to understand the long-term effects of Covid-19 on the auditory system.”

He added: "It is also well-known that viruses such as measles, mumps and meningitis can cause hearing loss, little is understood about the auditory effects of the Sars-CoV-2 virus.

"Though this review provides further evidence for an association, the studies we looked at were of varying quality so more work needs to be done."

The data behind the study primarily used self-reported questionnaires or medical records to obtain Covid-19-related symptoms, rather than the more scientifically reliable hearing tests.

Prof Munro is leading a year-long UK study to investigate the possible long-term impact of coronavirus on hearing among people who have been previously treated in hospital for the virus.

His team hopes to accurately estimate the number and severity of Covid-19 related hearing disorders in the UK, and discover what parts of the auditory system might be affected.

The new study, published in the International Journal of Audiology, was funded by the NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre.

Early in the pandemic, it emerged that many people infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus were losing their sense of smell — even without displaying other symptoms.

Researchers also discovered that infected people could lose their sense of taste and their ability to detect chemically triggered sensations such as spiciness, called chemesthesis.

Almost a year later, some still haven’t recovered these senses, and for a proportion of people who have, odours are now warped.

Studies suggest that 41 per cent of people my experience some form of loss of smell when infected with Covid-19. For most, smell, taste and chemesthesis recover within weeks.