Epidemiologist Consultant with Public Health England reporting a loss of smell and some visual disturbance with his COVID-19 infection

[sharon sanders]

Michael Edelstein
@epi_michael
Epidemiologist, public health doctor
@phe_uk
, research fellow
@CHglobalhealth
. My thoughts on infectious diseases, epidemiology and global health
London, UKuk.linkedin.com/in/edelsteinmi…Joined August 2014
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Michael Edelstein
@epi_michael
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3h
So i was confirmed #COVID19 positive- i had mild symptoms of fever and cough but also more unusual ones like complete loss of smell (disconcerting) and visual disturbance- #epitwitter i think we can make better use of these weird ones for #digital community surveillance
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Michael Edelstein
@epi_michael
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3h


Michael Edelstein

Consultant Epidemiologist- Immunisation and countermeasures division, Public Health England

London, United Kingdom

 

[sharon sanders]

Please see:

ACS Chem Neurosci. Evidence of the COVID-19 Virus Targeting the CNS: Tissue Distribution, Host-Virus Interaction, and Proposed Neurotropic Mechanisms

 

[kiwibird]

https://www.pressherald.com/2020/03/...irus-symptoms/

Symptom of coronavirus could include loss of smell

Rudy Gobert, the Utah Jazz player whose positive test for the novel coronavirus triggered a shutdown by the NBA and had a cascading effect across sports leagues, reported Sunday that he has lost the senses of smell.

“Just to give you guys an update, loss of smell and taste is definitely one of the symptoms, haven’t been able to smell anything for the last four days,” Gobert tweeted. “Anyone experiencing the same thing?”

According to the American Academy of Otolaryngology, that isn’t unusual. In a post on its website Sunday, it cited growing anecdotal evidence indicating that lost or reduced sense of smell and loss of taste are symptoms associated with covid-19. The organization alerted ear, nose and throat physicians that both have been seen in patients who tested positive but showed no other symptoms. In the absence of allergies, sinusitis or rhinitis, the loss of smell or taste should “warrant serious consideration for self-isolation and testing,” it advised.

“We really want to raise awareness that this is a sign of infection and that anyone who develops loss of sense of smell should self-isolate,” Claire Hopkins, president of the British Rhinological Society, wrote in an email to The New York Times. “It could contribute to slowing transmission and save lives.”