Doctors around the world are reporting anecdotal Covid-19 cases in which patients have experienced an abrupt and unexplained total or partial loss of smell and taste The coronavirus is capable of attacking key cells in the nose, which may explain the unusual finding that some Covid-19 sufferers lose their ability to smell and taste, Harvard Medical School researchers found.
Their study of human and mice genomic data found certain cells at the back of the nose harbor the distinctly shaped proteins that the coronavirus targets to invade the body.
Infection of these cells could directly or indirectly lead to an altered sense of smell, they said in a paper published Saturday.