Accessibility links
Doctors Investigating Reports of Loss of Smell And COVID-19 : Short Wave Doctors around the world are sharing stories of patients losing their sense of taste or smell — and testing positive for the coronavirus. Is it a real symptom of COVID-19? There isn't scientific evidence for that. But the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery is gathering anecdotal information to find out more. Short Wave's Maddie Sofia and Emily Kwong talk about science during a pandemic.

Short Wave

Is This Real? Loss of Smell And The Coronavirus

Is This Real? Loss of Smell And The Coronavirus

Listen · 11:59
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/824712669/824960769" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Enlarge this image

An anatomical diagram showing the nasal cavity, circa 1930. Hulton Archive/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Hulton Archive/Getty Images

An anatomical diagram showing the nasal cavity, circa 1930.

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Doctors around the world are sharing stories of patients losing their sense of taste or smell — and testing positive for the coronavirus. But is it a real symptom of COVID-19?

There isn't scientific evidence that loss of smell is a symptom of COVID-19, but the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery is gathering anecdotal information through an online reporting tool to find out more. Short Wave host Maddie Sofia talks with reporter Emily Kwong about how the speed of their response reflects the urgency of this pandemic, as science tries to keep pace with the spread of this coronavirus.

Email the show at shortwave@npr.org.

This episode was produced by Rebecca Ramirez, edited by Viet Le and fact-checked by Emily Vaughn.