How long does it take to recover from losing your sense of taste and smell after having an erection? Will it affect male reproductive function? Will you be infected again? All answers

As this wave of Omicron infected people pass the infection period, some questions related to "Yangguo" and "Yangkang" also trouble the recovered people. Wen Daning, director of the infectious disease department of Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital, answered the 10 questions that everyone is most concerned about. Wen Daning is also a member of the provincial and municipal joint expert group on new coronary pneumonia. He has been engaged in clinical work on infectious diseases for more than 20 years and has participated in the treatment of major epidemics such as "SARS", "avian influenza" and "new coronary pneumonia".

1. What are the symptoms of Omicron, which is currently prevalent in Wuhan?

Wen Danning: Since February 2022, the virus strains infected by the patients we admitted have all been the Omicron variant. Many people have developed symptoms after this infection, mainly fever, cough, muscle aches, dry throat, nasal congestion, diarrhea and other related symptoms, but more concentrated in the upper respiratory tract. Pneumonia has occurred, but it is relatively rare, which is different from the previous strains.

The course of the Omicron-infected patients we have been treating since February is shorter than the original strain and the Delta strain, and it is estimated that it will take more than 10 days to fully recover. From my clinical experience, it takes 10 to 14 days to recover well.

Some people have weak respiratory systems and are prone to coughing, while others are prone to diarrhea. Generally, people with normal immune function will gradually recover in 7 to 10 days, but for the elderly with underlying diseases and various complications, a few people will still have pneumonia and some critical conditions.

2.7-10 days after the disease course is over, many people still have symptoms such as cough, diarrhea, dry and sore throat, and night sweats. Are these symptoms a continuation of the disease or sequelae of the infection?

Wen Danning: These symptoms that appear during the recovery period are actually a process of recovery after infection. Symptoms such as cough, diarrhea, dry and sore throat, sputum, and night sweats that appear 7 to 10 days after infection are not called sequelae.

Medically speaking, sequelae refer to symptoms that persist for 3 to 6 months after the disease is completely stable. The symptoms of cough, diarrhea, dry throat and sore throat, and sputum (including bloody sputum) that are currently seen in this wave of Omicron infected people will gradually improve and recover as the disease progresses and time passes.

When these symptoms occur, medication should be used according to each person's specific situation. For example, if you have diarrhea, you need antidiarrheal drugs and you also need to make some dietary adjustments. If you have a cough, you can use expectorant and cough suppressant drugs. If you cough up a lot of blood, you also need some hemostatic drugs. The principle of medication is to treat the symptoms.

Should we bear the subsequent symptoms of these diseases? This also depends on each person's own situation. For example, some people have some chronic diseases in their lungs, and they are prone to lung infections in winter and spring. At this time, they cannot bear it blindly, but should actively treat the symptoms. If you cough up thick sputum, it may be secondary to other infections. At this time, you may use antibiotics for 3 to 5 days. After taking it for two or three days, the amount of sputum is obviously reduced, and the color of the sputum becomes lighter, from thick sputum to white frothy sputum, which means that the anti-inflammatory is effective.

3. Many infected people have lost their sense of taste and smell. Is this because the virus has damaged the relevant nerves? Can it be restored?

Wen Danning: We have encountered many patients with loss of taste and smell in clinical practice, about 10%, especially this time there are many patients infected, so there are more such patients. But the ones I have seen in clinical practice are transient, and they gradually recover after 3 to 5 days. I don’t think this is because the central nervous system is affected. It may be that the peripheral neurons that sense taste and smell are temporarily damaged, so in clinical practice, patients who have lost their taste and smell gradually begin to recover after 3 to 5 days. There are basically no patients who have not recovered, so this damage should not be permanent.

4. Most infected people show significant improvement on the 5th day, but some people have a fever for five or six days. What is the course of Omicron infection?

Wen Danning: This wave of Omicron patients is different from those admitted before October. They are more contagious and most of them have mild symptoms, but we are not saying that all of them should have mild symptoms.

The general feeling is that the symptoms are more severe after four or five days, and they start to recover after about a week. However, in clinical practice, we have encountered patients who have not recovered for a week, or whose fever has not subsided for 5 days. In this case, patients should be very careful, as the disease may have progressed. At this time, it is best to go to the hospital for a comprehensive examination and let the doctor evaluate the condition.

My suggestion is that if the fever lasts for more than 5 days and is still above 39℃, you must see a doctor. Normal people will start to have a fever in about 5 days. 5 days should be the limit for us to observe at home. If you start to recover in 5 days, you can continue to observe at home. If the condition worsens after 5 days, you must go to the hospital and let the doctor make a judgment. If hospitalization is required, the doctor will arrange hospitalization. If it is not serious, he will instruct you to continue taking oral medication at home.

5. Many people feel fatigued after infection, so should we emphasize “resting”?

Wen Danning: We recommend that you exercise appropriately after recovery. In the early stages of recovery, fatigue and lethargy are common. Therefore, you should not overwork yourself in activities or work after being infected with Omicron. If you feel particularly tired after activities or work, or if your heart rate and breathing speed up to the point of feeling uncomfortable after physical exercise, then you are overdoing it.

The overall trend after infection is to recover slowly. However, everyone's physique, age, and condition are different. Some people recover in a long time, while others recover in a short time. Whether to rest or resume normal work depends on your physical condition and your usual work and life habits.

The degree of resumption of work and exercise should be gradual, starting work and exercise according to each person's recovery status. The intensity should be determined by not feeling tired.

6. After infection, some men experience pain all over their body, including pain in their genitals, so they worry that it will affect their reproductive function. Is there any effect?

Wen Danning: Omicron is still a type of new coronavirus, and the new coronavirus will have some effects on multiple organs in the human body. However, we now believe that Omicron invades more of the upper respiratory tract and has very little impact on other organs. Compared with the previous Delta or original virus strains, Omicron is less toxic. Omicron now mainly affects the upper respiratory tract, and the possibility of affecting multiple organ functions is very small, so I don’t think it will have an impact on reproductive function.

In addition, high temperature does have an impact on male reproductive function. The testicles of men who produce sperm will be affected if they are kept at high temperature for a long time, but there are basically no reports of ordinary fever affecting reproductive function.

7. Now some elderly people around us are in serious condition after being infected. Does that mean that elderly people will definitely develop severe or critical illness after being infected?

Wen Daning: The first high-risk group mentioned in the ninth edition of the guidelines is the elderly over 60 years old. For the elderly, the older they are and the more they have underlying diseases, the greater the risk. But it does not mean that the elderly should be hospitalized immediately after being infected. A risk assessment is needed here. The assessment indicators can be relaxed a little for the elderly. For example, we ordinary people say that we go to the hospital only after a high fever for 5 days. If the elderly have a body temperature of more than 39℃ for 3 days, or feel panic, shortness of breath, chest tightness after activities, or if the underlying diseases such as hypertension, high blood sugar, heart failure, etc. are not well controlled, it is still recommended to go to the hospital in time.

Diabetics are more susceptible to secondary infections because of diabetes, and it is particularly difficult to control the infection once it occurs. When a person's blood sugar rises, the blood is like a culture medium for pathogens. Therefore, diabetics are prone to secondary infections. The severe cases we encounter now are more common in diabetics.

Therefore, when the elderly or young and middle-aged people with underlying diseases such as diabetes are infected with Omicron, they must closely observe changes in their condition and not just try to endure it.

8. Many infected elderly people have never left the house, so why did they still get infected?

Wen Danning: If you ask many elderly people carefully, they don’t stay at home. Most of them go downstairs, but they are not far from home.

Some elderly people do not go out, but there are always visitors at home, such as children and relatives who come to visit, caregivers who take care of them, etc.

Elderly people who stay at home will also accept external items, such as purchased food and daily necessities, etc. These may be sources of infection.

9. How to deal with aerosol-transmitted viruses?

Wen Danning: Not only Omicron, but many respiratory viruses are transmitted by aerosols. The best way to understand aerosols is like the smoke produced by smoking. When a person smokes in a room, people who come in after he leaves can smell the smoke. In fact, this is an aerosol, which can float in the air for a long time without settling. If you encounter it, you will inhale it.

But if you open the windows for ventilation in time, you will soon no longer smell the smoke, which means that the smoke has spread. This is why we need to keep offices, rooms and other places ventilated. Compared with the smell of smoke, the aerosol that spreads the virus is colorless and odorless, and more hidden. Keeping windows open for ventilation should become a good habit.

10. If I test negative but my family members or colleagues test positive again, will I be infected again?

Wen Daning: Everyone is asking this question. There will be no such cross-infection among family members and colleagues.

In a family or a certain area, the strains that people are infected with are basically the same, and the same strain will not be repeatedly infected in a short period of time. This is because after infection, the human immune function will produce antibodies against this strain, and this antibody can provide continuous protection for 3 to 6 months.