...taste disturbances have included loss of taste (complete ageusia or partial hypogeusia) and altered taste (dysgeusia). For simplicity, we will use the term dysgeusia here to include ageusia and hypogeusia.
A European multicenter epidemiologic study analyzing the prevalence of olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions as a clinical presentation in a cohort of 417 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 with mild-to-moderate disease presentation reported that 88.8% of patients had gustatory disorders.
Yet another possible mechanism may involve zinc, which is thought to play an important role in taste perception. It is possible that zinc chelation through immune mechanisms and molecules known to increase in concentration with inflammatory processes may result in acute hypozincemia or a more localized change in cellular zinc homeostasis of oral gustatory cells as a result of infection by SARS-CoV-2 virus. This may result in taste disturbances similar to what has been observed in association with other processes leading to zinc insufficiency. Some randomized controlled trials have demonstrated benefit of zinc supplementation in patients with taste disturbances. In addition, zinc has been shown to inhibit coronavirus RNA polymerase activity in vitro and is thought to play a role in antiviral immune responses.
Systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials have concluded that zinc lozenges at a dose 75 mg per day or greater may decrease the duration of common cold symptoms in healthy children and adults. Common cold–like illnesses are caused by other coronaviruses, rhinoviruses, and adenoviruses, so there has been interest in using zinc supplements for prevention during the current pandemic.
It is of particular significance that dysgeusia (with or without olfactory symptoms) has been reported as an early or lone symptom of COVID-19 before involvement of the lungs or other organs. We hypothesize that changes in localized cellular zinc homeostasis in oral gustatory cells resulting from immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 viral replication may result in dysgeusia, which may or may not be accompanied by hypozincemia. If this is the case, the time of onset of dysgeusia may correspond with the time when zinc supplementation in the form of lozenges or syrups may be most effective because this localized delivery of zinc to oral and oropharyngeal mucosae may help control COVID-19 replication at early replication sites.
It looks like you found a source. I first started taking an active interest in Covid in March. My son (currently in Afghanistan with Special Forces) and I were discussing high dose Vitamin C for use with Covid lung complications. He told me that Facebook was removing You-tube videos about Vit. C in China. Since then I have been repeatedly censored at articles by AOL when I try to comment about HCQ and zinc, Dr. Fauci and Remdesivir, Big Pharma. Even when I try to simplify my language saying things like ionophores for zinc and Kaletra by S. Korea, large pharmaceutical organizations, presidential medical advisors, etc. I still get messages asking if I really want to say that as I may be in violation of community standards. Oh, well!
At any rate I started seeking articles about Covid and HCQ, zinc, Vitamins C and D3, and copied some of them. I now have a stack 2 inches thick with mostly scientific articles, some quite technical discussing various aspects of nutrient depletion and Covid. It seems the first thing the virus does is deplete a number of major nutrients like those listed above. This should be studied both before, during, and after illness. My solution at age 82 is to be taking generous amounts of all the critical nutrients I can. In late April I was reading up about zinc, and saw that one of the symptoms of zinc deficiency was loss of taste and smell. I said, Ahah, that sounds like many early Covid cases. About a month later I saw the first instance of an article or comment connecting the symptom and zinc. At this point I do not know if it was in an article, or in one of the many comments following some articles, not all of which I copied. But several others have commented on the zinc/taste-order concurrence.
It seems many medically oriented or professionals in the medical field are really annoyed with the medical establishment’s drug and vaccine only approach to healing Covid. More naturally based treatment lost out to drugs and surgery over a century ago. However, it seems now is the time to revert to natures healing substances, although sometimes in doses far exceeding normal dietary acquisition. So much of today’s illness appears to be caused by poor diet and debilitating bad habits. We may have reached the outer limit of what drugs and surgery alone can accomplish. I doubt that Big Med will go quietly so long as their approach can tap into so much money. Compare: Dr. Z, 3 item, 5 day treatment, $20. Remdesivir, $1,000 or more per dose; plus horribly large hospital bills.