Patients with COVID-19 who report a loss of smell should be monitored for other red flags of neurodegeneration because they might be at risk of Parkinson’s disease, Australian researchers say.

The team from the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health in Melbourne, who are investigating the long-term neurological consequences of COVID-19, have issued a ‘call to arms’ this week to prepare for a silent wave of parkinsonism.

“The high prevalence of hyposmia, especially in mild cases, should be of concern due to the known correlation between neurotropic viruses and Parkinson’s disease,” they wrote in a review in the Journal of Parkinson’s Disease.

“Chronic neuroinflammation is thought to play a role in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease.”