SARS-CoV-2, or as it is known in the common tongue, COVID-19, is a disease that marked 2020 as one of the darkest years in history. The black swan event cost the world its momentum and brought it to a standstill. Even after two years, the virus is mutating and surprising the population with new variants. With an array of symptoms associated with the virus, the list keeps getting longer, thanks to the newly emerging variants. A few peculiar symptoms help in differentiating these variants except for factors like transmissibility and virality.
Among the long list of symptoms is one that people experience either while suffering from the virus or during post-recovery. It is being monikered as ‘COVID Ear.’ So, what exactly is COVID Ear?
We all are aware that COVID-19 attacks the lungs, but before reaching the core of the respiratory system, it preys on the ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat) system. Loss of smell and taste is one of the most concrete indicators that suggest that the body might have the malevolent coronavirus.
In addition, multiple patients who are suffering from the disease or are recovering from it have reported an anomaly with their ears. Along with the loss of taste and smell, people are also reporting the loss of hearing or a continuous ringing sound in the ear called tinnitus. This particular condition of the ear is being termed in the medical fraternity as COVID Ear.
Multiple research papers have arisen that focus on this particular dysfunction of the ears. One such research was conducted by a team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Published in Nature, the team conducted the study based on the inner tissues of the human ear. They found that the tissues contained proteins that were susceptible to attack by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Studies suggest that although there is no direct impact on the hearing, the ears may show signs of interaction with the virus through balance problems in a person or tinnitus.
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