Covid: ongoing loss of smell may be caused by nasal cell destruction

Research into immune response sheds light on question of whether virus damages nose or brain

Millions of people who lost their sense of smell after contracting Covid may have an ongoing, abnormal immune response that destroys cells in the nose, researchers say.

Doctors analysed nasal tissue from Covid patients and found that those with long-term problems with their sense of smell had inflammation-driving immune cells inside the delicate nasal lining, which were potentially wiping out vital sensory nerve cells.