COVID-19 May Also Cause Loss of Hearing Even to Asymptomatic Patients, Study Says

It seems that every week, a new symptom or complication is added to the long list of COVID-19's effects on patients. Recently, some research publications have suggested that COVID-19 can affect an infected person's hearing. They said that even asymptomatic patients could have problems in hearing.

Hearing loss in COVID-19 patients looks unlikely since the illness is a respiratory disease. Problems on hearing may not be the first thing that anyone would think of. But recent studies suggest that the two could be linked to each other.

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Can COVID-19 cause problems of hearing?

In a letter published in the American Journal of Otolaryngology, the authors described a case of an older woman in Thailand diagnosed with COVID-19 who suffered from hearing loss. It only discussed brief details about the case and did not provide much evidence on the relationship between the two factors.

Moreover, another publication in the American Journal Otolaryngology by M.W.M. Mustafa of the Qena Faculty of Medicine at South Valley University in Egypt provided a more detailed link between the viral infection and hearing problems.

In a hearing test Mustafa conducted on 20 asymptomatic patients aged 20 to 50 years old, all participants performed worse than normal on some parts of the tests. They performed badly on tests of transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE) amplitudes and the high-frequency pure-tone thresholds.

Another letter in Acta Otolaryngologica Italica described a case series of six patients aged 22 to 40 years old who had the typical symptoms of COVID-19: fever, cough, and shortness of breath. The participants also reported symptoms of hearing problems on one side, and four of them said they could hear ringing in their ears.

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The Link Between COVID-19 and Hearing Problems

But just because someone tested positive of COVID-19 and reported hearing problems, it does not mean that the former caused the latter.

The letter published in the International Journal of Immunopathology and Pharmacology entitled "Don't forget ototoxicity during the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic!" warns health experts that several medications used in treating the patients can have ototoxicity.

Ototoxicity means toxic or damage to the ear. Some drugs like the chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, remdesivir, azithromycin, lopinavir, and favipiravir are potentially ototoxic that may cause hearing problems.

But it might not be too surprising that COVID-19 may affect ear function. Other viruses like the cytomegalovirus, the measles virus, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), and the herpes zoster virus (HZV) can cause some ear-related symptoms.

Additionally, there is already growing evidence that the virus may spread beyond the respiratory tract into other parts of the body, like the nervous system.

A study published in JAMA Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery described a case of COVID-19 in the middle ear of three patients.

But all of these studies only suggest that COVID-19 can affect the ears and may leave ear problems. More studies are needed to prove these claims. Preferably done in a larger sample and tested before and after getting the infection.

Nevertheless, whether patients may indeed suffer hearing loss or not, the subject must be taken seriously.

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