A recent study on the novel coronavirus reveals that the SARS-CoV-2 can infect the ear.
The study was published in the scientific journal, JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, and was conducted on the basis of an autopsy carried out on three patients who died from Covid-19. The findings stated the virus' presence inside the middle ear and in the mastoid area of the head. The mastoid is a hollow bone behind the ear.
The deceased were one woman in her 80s, and a man and woman both in their 60s. They died 48, 16, and 44 hours before their autopsies, respectively.
A Newsweek report stated the study revealed, "The research was carried out with the team removing the mastoids from the deceased patients' bodies and taking specimens from their middle ears. Mastoid specimens from two patients tested positive for COVID-19. Two of the 3 patients tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 virus in the mastoid or middle ear, with viral isolation from 2 of 6 mastoids and 3 of 6 middle ears. Results for case 1 were positive for the right middle ear only. Case 2 had negative results for all samples,"
Dr. Bradley W. Kesser of the University of Virginia Department of head and neck surgery and Dr. C. Matthew Stewart, associate professor of head and neck surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine published the study and commented that the researches have earlier found that other members of the coronavirus family of germs were present in human ears, but, until now, never for SARS-CoV-2.
