SARS-CoV-2 and Human Herpesvirus reactivation in sudden sensorineural hearing loss

Abstract

COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) is still with a high incidence on all continents, causing serious damage to human health. With a wide range of clinical outcomes, today not only related to the respiratory system, with frequent extrapulmonary manifestations. The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - Coronavirus 2 virus (SARS-CoV-2) can also invade the Central Nervous System (CNS). Neurological manifestations such as anosmia, dysgeusia, Peripheral Facial Palsy, and Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SNHL) have been linked to COVID-19. SNHL is a multifactorial symptom characterized by the sudden loss of hearing thresholds in one or both ears. Among the main theories of the etiology of SNHL are viral infections resulting from the activation of the human Herpesvirus. Thus, the objective of this study is to evaluate the clinical profile of patients with SNHL relating these findings to inflammatory and metabolic parameters, in these two years of the pandemic, with the presence of SARS-CoV-2 and presence/reactivation of human herpesviruses. A prospective cohort study will be carried out with patients diagnosed with PANSS at the Otology outpatient clinic of Hospital São Paulo (Federal University of São Paulo). The 50 volunteers included will undergo clinical and auditory evaluation, MRI, and collection of peripheral blood and saliva samples immediately after the first consultation, after 30 and 120 days. The biological material will be used to quantify the viral load of SARS-CoV-2, CMV, HSV, and VZV, by ELISA and/or PCR, and the samples will also be used for the quantification of inflammatory cytokines and a profile of metabolites. (AU)