Covid-19 can worsen pre-existing hearing loss, say doctors

If you have pre-existing hearing impairment and have contracted Covid-19, chances are that the viral infection can worsen the hearing loss and you should seek help, say ENT doctors at Bengaluru hospitals.

Dr Srinivas K, Consultant ENT, Head and Neck Surgeon, Vikram Hospital, says that for a patient to have suffered Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SSNHL), he/she should have lost the ability to hear 30-decibel noise in three different frequencies within three days. "What we have seen in our Covid-19 patients after recovery is the worsening of pre-existing hearing loss and increased ringing in their ears called tinnitus. We have started them on treatment. If patients come in early, they can be treated," he said.

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"A patient who has a substantive pre-existing hearing loss has an old audiometry report. There is a substantial worsening when they come back and are checked again. Out of 200 patients, fewer than 5% have had pre-existing hearing loss which worsens with Covid," he added.

All viral infections such as childhood meningitis/mumps have hearing implications. "Viral infections cause hair cell damage in the cochlear. In individuals where the hair cells are completely destroyed, cochlear implants have been done. We have not seen such severity till now with Covid though," Dr Srinivas said.

Although uncommon, infection with Covid-19 may also cause sudden permanent hearing loss in some patients, according to a first such case report linking hearing loss to Covid-19 in the UK, published in the British Medical Journal. According to the scientists, including those from the University College London, awareness of this possible side effect is important since a prompt course of steroid treatment can reverse the hearing loss.

Intratympanic Steroid Therapy is an option but not while the patient is still recovering from Covid, says Dr Suhel Hasan, Senior Consultant, Department of ENT, Narayana Health City. "In mild to moderate Covid cases, who complain of hearing loss let's say, patients cannot be administered steroids as that may act against their recovery. Steroids are a very timely treatment, which is supposed to be administered in severe Covid infections," Dr Hasan said.

Dr Rohit Udaya Prasad, Consultant, ENT and Hearing Implantology, Aster RV Hospital, explained: "SSNHL is mostly caused due to a viral pathology. Patients don't even realise it sometimes. We administer steroids in such cases. Covid causes heightened inflammatory response in the body that may affect the inner ear or cochlea. But this is difficult to diagnose in patients who are in the ICU. But these symptoms have to be watched out for."