Loss of smell emerged early on as a sign of possible COVID-19 infection.
Now, a yearlong study of 97 people in the journal JAMA Network Open suggests smell may return within six months to a year.
The study should be considered preliminary because it was small, partially relied on self-reporting and was weighted toward young and female patients, who are more likely to recover from smell loss.
But even self-reported tests, which underestimated recovery, reported full return of smell within one year.
That's compared to objective tests, which showed full recovery in all but two subjects within eight months.
The results match findings from animal studies and support the idea that smell loss likely is due to inflammation in affected organs.