Kolkata: A milder variant of Covid has affected hundreds in Kolkata with symptoms that are far more benign than those during the pandemic, barring one that has been reminding patients and doctors of the torrid period – loss of taste and smell. It has been very severe for many who have been going without these two vital senses for three-five days. The other symptoms — fever and cough — have been relatively subdued, though.Several were hospitalised in recent weeks with Covid, mostly children and the elderly, but their disease was mild. At Charnock Hospital, two such patients were admitted in the last one week and more than 10 treated at the OPD with suspected Covid. “The symptoms are similar to the Omicron variant of Covid, though very mild. Patients reported with respiratory distress, chest congestion, runny nose and suffered a loss of smell and taste. It lasted four-five days for some. We had two women admitted with severe respiratory symptoms last week, who had lost smell and taste. One needed oxygen support, but recovered in less than a week. Others regained their sense of smell and taste as the other symptoms receded. It was the same during the first and second waves of Covid,” said Charnock pulmonology head Soumya Sengupta.Sengupta added that most patients at Charnock who lost taste and smell had a history of lung ailments.“This is a mild variant of the virus that triggered the pandemic six years ago. It has now become endemic and the current strain is a mild one. It causes simple respiratory symptoms like other viruses of its ilk. But we have come across several who have suffered a loss of smell and taste – just as Covid patients would between 2020 and 2022. It has been severe for many with the senses remaining absent for three-five days,” said RN Tagore Hospital (RTIICS) intensivist Sauren Panja.Since last week, nine such patients were treated at BP Poddar Hospital. As their symptoms were mild, they were not routinely referred for PCR testing, said Rahul Ghosh, consultant physician. “But two patients with a more suggestive clinical presentation have been advised to isolate and avoid domestic or international travel until recovery. While these symptoms are not specific to Covid, their recurrence warrants caution, particularly when associated with fever, sore throat or respiratory symptoms,” added Ghosh.Contrary to popular belief, Covid does not typically destroy the smell-sensing neurons in your nose directly. Instead, the virus attacks the support infrastructure surrounding them, said doctors.Inside the roof of the nasal cavity, we have olfactory sensory neurons responsible for detecting odours. Surrounding these neurons are sustentacular cells, which act like a crucial support crew: providing nutrients, maintaining chemical balance, and offering physical structure. SARS-CoV-2 virus enters cells using a receptor protein called ACE2. Olfactory neurons lack ACE2, but the supporting sustentacular cells are covered in them.When the virus infects and destroys these support cells, localised inflammation sets in. Without their support system, the neurons temporarily lose their cilia (tiny hair-like structures that catch odor molecules) and go dormant.Since the neurons themselves aren’t killed off in most cases, your sense of smell usually returns once the support cells regenerate.
