The recent study has shown how smell loss that is linked to CoronaVirus infection is different from what you experience with a bad cold or flu.

The loss of smell and taste is a prominent symptom of CoronaVirus; however, it is also a common symptom of having a bad cold. Researchers wanted to find out exactly what differentiates CoronaVirus smell loss with the kind of smell loss you might have with a cold and blocked-up nose.

The main differences found are that, even though CoronaVirus patients also lose their sense of smell, they can breathe freely, do not tend to have a runny or blocked nose, and they cannot detect bitter or sweet tastes.

The research team lead by Professor Philpott carried out smell and taste tests on 10 CoronaVirus patients, 10 people with bad colds and a control group of 10 healthy people – all matched for age and sex.

Prof Philpott said: We know that CoronaVirus behaves differently to other respiratory viruses, for example by causing the body’s immune system to over-react, known as a cytokine storm, and by affecting the nervous system.”

We found that smell loss was much more profound in the CoronaVirus patents. They were less able to identify smells, and they were not able to identify bitter or sweet tastes.

He added that this is exciting because it means that smell and taste tests could be used to distinguish between CoronaVirus patients and people with a regular cold or flu.

This research also shows that there are entirely different things going on when it comes to smell and taste loss for CoronaVirus patients, compared to those with a bad cold.

It is particularly interesting that CoronaVirus seems to particularly affect sweet and bitter taste receptors because these are known to play an important role in innate immunity.

The above research carried out by a European group of smell disorder experts, including Professor Philpott, was conducted at the University of East Anglia.