Science

Docs Hope Plasma-Soaked Sponge Could Make COVID Survivors Smell Again

THE NOSE KNOWS

Some who have tried it have experienced improvement, but large-scale research is needed.

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Dipayan Bose/Getty

COVID survivors who still suffer from loss of smell after recovery are being enrolled in a study of a possible treatment: putting biodegradable sponges soaked with plasma up the nose. Otolaryngologist David Rosen, an associate professor at Thomas Jefferson University, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that some patients are reporting improvement from the therapy—although he doesn’t know why and says more study is needed. “If it works,” he said, “it seems like it can be huge.” Scientists aren’t even sure why some COVID sufferers lose their sense of taste and smell, and why some don’t get it back.

Read it at Philadelphia Inquirer

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