MOSCOW, September 26. /TASS/. Around 1.4% of the population has smell disorders even before the novel coronavirus infection, Deputy Director of the Russian Central Research Institute of Epidemiology Natalia Pshenichnaya told TASS.
"1.4% of the population in average had problems with sensing odors even before the COVID. This disorder occurs more frequently with elderly people - olfactory disorders (dysosmia) were registered with 50% of people aged above 50 and 80% with the ones of more than 80 years old. Further to the COVID, other diseases also affect perceptiveness of odors, for example, neurogenerative diseases and diabetes mellitus. Smoking also contributes to problems in the olfaction sphere," the expert said.
The age, bad habits, concomitant diseases and individual differences of organisms can influence on the period of olfaction recovery after the COVID. "This is highly specific. Probably, such disorders can persist for a year and even more," she said.
According to expert data, about 75-80% of individuals with the coronavirus infection lose the sense of odor and taste. This normally lasts for 3-4 weeks sense but this is not a main characteristic of the infection and may also evidence other diseases.