Can COVID-19 Cause Your Voice to Be Hoarse?

Family Medicine, Primary Care Roots Community Health Center, Hippo Education, Kameda Medical Center

Supervised by Kenji Taylor, MD

Yes, a respiratory virus like COVID-19 can cause inflammation in the throat that then leads to hoarseness.

Explanation

When infected with the novel coronavirus, the virus can multiply in the throat and cause inflammation, which may result in hoarseness. Specifically, COVID-19 has been reported to cause acute laryngitis, acute epiglottitis, and croup syndrome, all structures in the throat that would lead to a hoarse voice.

(References)

Lin CW, Wang YH, Li YE, Chiang TY, Chiu LW, Lin HC, Chang CT. COVID-related dysphonia and persistent long-COVID voice sequelae: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Am J Otolaryngol. 2023 Sep-Oct;44(5):103950. doi: 10.1016/j.amjoto.2023.103950. Epub 2023 Jun 8. PMID: 37354724; PMCID: PMC10250057.
Mohamed-Hussein AA, Wafy SM, Makhlouf HA, Taghyan AM, Eldin AB. Sudden hoarseness of voice in COVID-19 patient. Lung India. 2021 Mar;38(Supplement):S116-S118. doi: 10.4103/lungindia.lungindia_863_20. PMID: 33686994; PMCID: PMC8104358.

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Family Medicine, Primary Care Roots Community Health Center, Hippo Education, Kameda Medical Center

Kenji Taylor, MD

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