ENT Today: Preparing yourself and your practice for a surge of COVID patients

Discerning the difference between COVID-19 symptoms and indications of regular sinus or upper respiratory tract infections can be challenging for ear, nose and throat specialists since all these diagnosis can involve cough, fever, congestion and mucus production. But the ability to do so will help ENT practices handle the busiest time of the year for this specialty as patients come seeking respiratory relief.

Ahmad R. Sedaghat, MD, PhD, director of the division of rhinology, allergy, and anterior skull base surgery at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, told ENT Today that because COVID-19 is a viral infection, patients may experience more severe body aches, lethargy, and fatigue compared to a bacterial sinus infection.

“While sinus infections and upper respiratory tract infections may also cause temporary olfactory dysfunction, the prevalence with which it occurs in COVID-19 patients seems to be much higher, such that sudden anosmia should be a trigger to test for COVID-19,” explained Sedaghat.

Read the full story with ENT Today online.

Learn more about Sedaghat’s latest research.

Featured image of Ahmad Sedaghat, MD, PhD, shown in the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute. Photo by Colleen Kelley/UC Creative + Brand.