Scientists have identified a new side effect of long-term COVID-19 - “face blindness”.

Have you ever had a situation where you didn’t recognize your relatives or friends after the coronavirus?

A new study by scientists from Dartmouth College in the US has found that another side effect of long-term COVID-19 may be prosopagnosia, also called face blindness. This is the loss of the ability to recognize people.

Coronavirus is known to have many side effects, including problems with attention, memory and speech, as well as loss of smell and taste . But prosopagnosia has not been mentioned before.

In the new work, scientists first described such a case in 28-year-old Annie. The girl worked as a portrait artist, but after COVID-19 she stopped recognizing faces, including those of relatives. Meeting her parents for the first time after illness, she walked past them. We were able to recognize our loved ones only by their voices. The girl also complained of deteriorating navigation abilities.

According to the study authors, such abnormalities are usually observed after brain injury or developmental disorders. But Annie had never encountered anything like this.

To make sure that the patient really did have prosopagnosia, the scientists conducted a series of tests during which she was shown photos of celebrities and strangers. Indeed, the girl had difficulty recognizing familiar faces and recognizing strangers.

Scientists believe that this is due specifically to the long-term coronavirus. Therefore, they studied data from another 54 people who had symptoms of COVID-19 for 12 weeks or more. Many also showed cognitive problems, including difficulty recognizing family members' faces.

Thus, the study authors conclude that although the sample is small, face blindness may be a common consequence of the disease.