![\"News](\"https:\/\/media.healthday.com\/Images\/icimages\/18010.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
FRIDAY, July 31, 2020 (HealthDay News)<\/p>\n
The aftereffects of COVID-19<\/a> are numerous, and now British researchers report that many patients recovering from infection with the new coronavirus have lingering hearing<\/a> problems.<\/p>\n For the study, 120 U.K. patients who had been hospitalized for COVID-19<\/a> took part in a phone survey.<\/p>\n When the patients were asked if they had any changes in their hearing<\/a>, 13% said it was worse. Eight patients said their hearing had deteriorated and eight said they had tinnitus<\/a> (ringing in the ears<\/a>).<\/p>\n “We already know that viruses<\/a> such as measles<\/a>, mumps<\/a> and meningitis can cause hearing loss<\/a>, and coronaviruses can damage the nerves that carry information to and from the brain,” said researcher Kevin Munro, a professor of audiology at the University of Manchester.<\/p>\n “It is possible, in theory, that COVID-19<\/a> could cause problems with parts of the auditory system including the middle ear or cochlea,” he said in a university news release.<\/p>\n Conditions such as auditory neuropathy, a hearing problem in which the cochlea is functioning but transmission along the auditory nerve to the brain is impaired, could make it hard to hear over background noise, Munro added.<\/p>\n Guillain-Barre syndrome<\/a>, which has been associated with COVID-19<\/a>, is also tied to auditory neuropathy.<\/p>\n But more research is needed to pinpoint exactly how the virus affects hearing, the researchers noted.<\/p>\n “While we are reasonably confident in the differentiation of preexisting and recent changes in hearing and tinnitus<\/a>, we urge caution,” Munro said.<\/p>\n “It is possible that factors other than COVID-19<\/a> may impact on preexisting hearing loss<\/a> and tinnitus<\/a>. These might include stress<\/a> and anxiety<\/a>, including the use of face masks that make communication more difficult, medications used to treat COVID-19<\/a> that could damage the ear, or other factors related to being critically ill,” he explained.<\/p>\n The report was published July 31 in the International Journal of Audiology<\/i>.<\/p>\n — Steven Reinberg<\/p>\n![\"MedicalNews\"](\"https:\/\/images.medicinenet.com\/images\/HealthDay\/healthday.png\")
Copyright \u00a9 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/images.medicinenet.com\/images\/quiz\/hearing-loss\/hearing-loss-s1.jpg\"\/)