Health

..Kevin Munro, professor of audiology at the University of Manchester, who was not involved in the work, said it is known that other viruses, including measles and mumps, can affect hearing, while he has been contacted by a large number of Covid survivors reporting a change in their hearing or tinnitus.

Work from his team previously found that 16 of 121 patients admitted to hospital with Covid, and who completed a survey, reported hearing problems about two months after discharge.

Munro said his team is now investigating the prevalence and causes of such problems, noting it is unclear whether they are down to the virus itself, the immune system response, stress, or even treatments for Covid – or whether it could simply be that hearing problems become apparent in a noisy hospital where individuals wear masks.

“I think there’s likely to be lots of explanations for why people were reporting problems,” he said.