Researchers are making headway in understanding how coronavirus causes loss of smell. Several potential treatments to tackle the condition are undergoing clinical trials, including steroids and blood plasma

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70. (Unicamp 2023) COVID AND SMELL LOSS: SOME ANSWERS EMERGE

Researchers are making headway in understanding how coronavirus causes loss of smell. Several potential treatments to tackle the condition are undergoing clinical trials, including steroids and blood plasma. Recently, a study surveyed 616,318 people in the United States who have had COVID-19. It found that, compared with those who had been infected with the original virus, people who had contracted the Alpha variant were 50% as likely to have chemosensory disruption. This probability fell to 44% for the Delta variant, and to 17% for Omicron.

However, a significant portion of people infected early in the pandemic still experience chemosensory effects. A 2021 study followed 100 people who had had mild cases of COVID-19 and 100 people who repeatedly tested negative. More than a year after their infections, 46% of those who had had COVID-19 still had smell problems; by contrast, just 10% of the control group had developed some smell loss, but for other reasons.

Furthermore, 7% of those who had been infected still had total smell loss, or ‘anosmia’, at the end of the year. Given that more than 500 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide, tens of millions of people probably have lingering smell problems.

(Adaptado de: https://www.nature.com/articles/ d41586-022-01589-z. Acesso em 22/06/2022.)

Segundo o texto,

1. o percentual de pessoas infectadas pelo coronavírus a apresentarem problemas de olfato vem aumentando à medida que o vírus evolui.
2. esteroides e plasma sanguíneo são tipos de tratamentos eficazes contra a perda de olfato após infecção por coronavírus.
3. a perda total de olfato, chamada de “anosmia”, ainda estava presente, em 2021, em 7% das pessoas infectadas por coronavírus no começo da pandemia.
4. problemas olfativos provavelmente persistem em 500 milhões de pessoas que foram infectadas pelo coronavírus.