醫生們發現新冠肺炎新症狀：味覺和嗅覺失靈

Doctors worldwide are sounding the alarm: Otherwise asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19 often lose their sense of smell or taste and are likely spreading the virus.

全世界的醫生都敲響了警鐘：新冠肺炎無症狀患者通常會失去嗅覺或味覺，並且有可能傳播病毒。

“This is a sign of infection and anyone who develops loss of sense of smell should self-isolate,” Claire Hopkins, the president of the British Rhinological Society, told The New York Times. “It could contribute to slowing transmission and save lives.”

英國鼻科學會主席Claire Hopkins對《紐約時報》說：“這是感染的症狀，任何嗅覺喪失的人都應該自我隔離。這樣能減少傳播，挽救生命。”

Over the weekend, a number of medical groups released statements. The American Academy of Otolaryngology posted on its website that lost smell, as well as distorted smell and taste, are being commonly seen in otherwise healthy COVID-19 patients.

上週末，一些醫療團體發表了聲明。美國耳鼻喉科學會在其網站上公佈，嗅覺喪失、嗅覺和味覺混亂在健康的新冠肺炎患者中很常見。

The Academy informed doctors that when present in the absence of other obvious causes, such as allergies or sinusitis, these symptoms indicate possible “Covid-19 infection and warrant serious consideration for self-isolation and testing of these individuals.”

該學會通知醫生說，當病人無其他明顯致病因素時，如過敏或鼻竇炎，出現這些症狀可能是“感染了新冠病毒，需要認真考慮對這些人進行自我隔離和檢測。”

Italian and South Korean doctors have reported widely seeing loss of smell and taste among otherwise asymptomatic family members of hospitalized patients.

意大利和韓國的醫生普遍發現住院患者的無症狀家屬有嗅覺和味覺喪失的症狀。

The official lingo is hyposmia, decreased sense of smell, and dysgeusia, a distorted sense of taste. (Anosmia and ageusia are the full loss of smell and taste, respectively.) The British Rhinological Society calls for people with these symptoms to immediately self-isolate for seven days.

官方術語叫“嗅覺減退”，即嗅覺減弱，和“味覺障礙”，即味覺混亂。（嗅覺缺失症和味覺喪失分別指的是嗅覺和味覺的完全喪失。）英國鼻科學會呼呼有這些症狀的人們立即自我隔離七天。