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Covid study finds millions have long-term smell or taste problems
全球5%新冠患者將長期存在嗅覺味覺功能障礙
Millions of people worldwide may have long-term smell or taste problems as a result of Covid-19, with women more likely to be affected, a study suggests.
一項研究顯示，全球數百萬新冠肺炎患者可能會長期存在嗅覺或味覺喪失問題，尤其是女性患者。
About 5% of adults infected with the coronavirus may develop long-lasting changes to their sense of smell or taste, according to the research published in the BMJ.
發表在《英國醫學期刊》的研究報告指出，約5%的新冠肺炎成年患者的味覺或嗅覺會發生持久性改變。
With more than 550m confirmed Covid-19 cases to date, it means there may be long-term smell deficiencies for 15 million people and taste problems for 12 million (with an unknown overlap of those suffering both) for at least six months after an infection.
迄今為止全世界共有超5.5億例新冠肺炎確診病例，這意味著分別有1500萬和1200萬患者在感染病毒至少6個月后可能面臨長期的嗅覺和味覺功能障礙，其中一部分患者嗅覺味覺都會出現問題。
Given the devastating effect that loss of smell and taste can have on quality of life and wellbeing, this will have a huge impact on global health, the team of international researchers say.
開展該研究的跨國團隊表示，考慮到嗅覺和味覺喪失對生活質量和幸福感的毀滅性作用，這將對全球健康狀況產生巨大影響。
Loss or change of sense of smell or taste can lead to “severe distress”, they say, and they call for health systems to be better prepared to support people who often feel “isolated” when dismissed by clinicians.
研究團隊指出，嗅覺或味覺喪失或改變會導致“嚴重后果”，他們呼吁衛生系統更好地給予支持，這些患者在求助臨床醫生無果后經常會感到“孤立無援”。
Daily activities such as smelling coffee and testing the flavour of food can become “disgusting and emotionally distressing”, experts say.
專家稱，對這些患者而言，聞咖啡和品嘗食物等日常活動會變得“惡心而痛苦”。
The study reviewed data from 18 studies involving 3,699 patients. The researchers used modelling to estimate how many people go on to suffer from altered taste or smell for at least six months after a Covid-19 infection.
該研究回顧了涵蓋3699名患者的18項研究的數據。研究人員通過建模來估計有多少人在感染新冠病毒至少6個月后嗅覺或味覺發生改變。
They concluded that an estimated 5.6% of patients have smell dysfunction for at least six months and 4.4% have altered taste.
研究人員估計，分別有5.6%和4.4%的患者在感染病毒至少6個月后出現嗅覺和味覺功能障礙。
Women were less likely to recover their sense of smell and taste than men, and patients with greater initial severity of smell loss and those with nasal congestion were less likely to recover their sense of smell.
相比男性患者，女性患者的嗅覺和味覺更難以恢復，初期嗅覺喪失和鼻塞癥狀嚴重的患者更難以恢復嗅覺。
One female patient told researchers that she had yet to recover her sense of smell 27 months after her initial infection.
一名女性患者告訴研究人員，她在感染新冠病毒27個月后，嗅覺還未恢復。
Prof Danny Altmann, a professor of immunology at Imperial College London, who was not involved with the research, said: “Studies such as this alert us to the hidden burden out there of people suffering with persistent symptoms but perhaps not having thought it worth contacting the GP on the assumption there wouldn’t be much to be done.”
沒有參與該研究的倫敦帝國理工學院免疫學教授丹尼·阿爾特曼表示：“這類研究讓我們察覺到持續性癥狀給患者帶來的隱性負擔，這些人可能以為沒必要看醫生，因為他們覺得看了也沒用。”
英文來源：衛報
翻譯&編輯：丹妮
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