Tinnitus, the new symptom identified in people infected by Omicron

While the new Ómicron variant continues to expand in some Latin American countries, the numbers of daily infections begin to drop but the report of deaths from coronavirus begins to rise slowly.

With a higher level of contagiousness that the previous variants, Ómicron has a symptomatology similar to that of a simple cold or flu. However, a new North American study found a

Which you feel is a buzzwhistling, throbbing or thumping in the ears that only the person suffering from the condition hears, because they do not come from the environment, sometimes they appear and disappear and at other times they can be constant, lighter or stronger, and can torment or generate habituation .

In fact, guitarist Eric Clapton revealed in an interview with the British network ‘BBC’ that he has tinnitus and is going deaf. Pete Townshend, guitarist of the band The Who, and Luis Miguel also suffer.

The infectious disease doctor Edward Lopezin dialogue with ‘La Nación’, explained that recently he was in contact with “a patient who was left with tinnitus” after having coronavirus.

“They are like a kind of ringing in the ear”, the specialist specified and clarified that it is a complication or sequel which occurs in a few post-covid cases.

“The patient was referred to an otolaryngologist, who prescribed corticosteroids”Lopez added. Regarding the possibility that the Ómicron variant has increased the cases of tinnitus, the specialist said that it is something that still cannot be guaranteed.

“Normally the variant is not sequenced, at least here in Argentina”, he explained.

Early in the pandemic, Dr. Konstantina Stankovican inner ear researcher and otolaryngologist, was surprised when she began seeing coronavirus-exposed patients at her Massachusetts clinic complaining of Hearing lossringing in the ears known as tinnitus or tinnitus and dizziness, which usually start in the inner ear.

After months of research, culminating in the recent publication of a study in the journal Communications Medicine, experts found a direct relationship between the coronavirus and hearing and balance disorders. And Stankovic believes these symptoms should be on everyone’s radar.

“Our study showed that the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes covid-19 can directly infect the inner ear,” assured the expert.

And he explained: “During the height of the pandemic, when patients had more complications life-threatening, they didn’t pay much attention to whether their hearing was impaired or they had vertigo. It was easy to dismiss these symptoms as mere coincidence, and routine tests for SARS-CoV-2 were not yet available.”

The specialist recommends that hearing tests become routine for anyone diagnosed with COVID-19.

Or that if a patient has new-onset hearing loss, tinnitus or vertigo, and you were exposed to the virus, get tested and followed up by your health care provider for worsening symptoms.

Other researchers have begun to explore the possible connection between the coronavirus and hearing loss, but no one knows for sure how widespread the problem is, Stankovic said.

Since the virus is unlikely to enter through the outer ear, the nose is thought to be the culprit in most people. However, the team did not study how the coronavirus could reach the inner ear.

stankovic previously worked at Harvard but now she has joined Stanford Medicine as a Bertarelli Foundation Professor and Chair of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

The Nation, Argentina/GDA