
COVID-19 can infect inner ear cells, researchers say
Fox News
An inner ear infection may be a significant cause of COVID-19-associated problems with hearing and balance, according to researchers.
Observing 10 COVID-19 patients with ear-related symptoms like hearing loss, vestibular dysfunction and tinnitus, the researchers said they had found a pattern of inner ear infection consistent with symptoms after developing some of the first human cellular models of infectious inner ear disease.
Using hard-to-get adult human inner ear tissue, the group found that both human and mouse inner ear cells have the "molecular machinery to allow SARS-CoV-2 entry."
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