LONDON: According to preliminary research from Sweden, approximately 50 percent of people infected with Covid-19 during the first wave of infections in 2020 may experience long-term, if not permanent, changes in their sense of smell.

From the early days of the pandemic, sudden loss of smell or an impaired or distorted perception of odours emerged as an unusual Covid symptom. While some people recovered, others' sense of smell never fully recovered.

According to reports, scientists at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm conducted extensive tests on 100 individuals who contracted Covid during the first wave of infections in 2020.

The findings of the yet-to-be-peer-reviewed study indicated that 4 percent of people lost their sense of smell completely 18 months after recovering from Covid.

However, a third reported having a diminished ability to detect odours, and nearly half reported having parosmia - a condition in which the sense of smell is distorted.

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