Can the flu change your taste buds?

Your tongue may still detect basic tastes, while food seems bland or unfamiliar because aroma cannot reach smell receptors normally. A dry mouth, fever and some medicines can add to the change.

Much of what people call taste is flavour created by taste and smell working together. Swelling and mucus in the nose reduce airflow carrying food aromas, so familiar meals can seem flat even when the taste buds themselves are functioning.

A complete or sudden loss of smell or taste can occur with respiratory infections other than influenza. Symptoms alone cannot reliably identify which virus is responsible.

Drink regularly, maintain mouth care and choose foods with appealing texture or temperature while you recover. A saline nasal spray may ease congestion for some people. Avoid making food excessively salty or sweet to compensate, especially if you have dietary restrictions.

Check medicine leaflets because altered taste or dry mouth can be a side effect. Do not stop prescribed medicine without discussing the specific drug with a clinician or pharmacist.

Seek urgent help for difficulty breathing, chest pain, confusion, blue or grey lips, severe dehydration or rapid deterioration. Arrange a routine review if taste or smell does not begin to return after the respiratory illness clears, keeps worsening, or occurs with facial weakness, trouble speaking or swallowing.

Contact a clinician sooner if the change prevents you from eating or drinking, or if you are pregnant, immunocompromised or have a condition that raises the risk from respiratory infection.

Ask whether your symptom pattern suggests testing for a respiratory infection, whether any current medicine could affect taste, and how long to monitor the change before an ear, nose and throat assessment is considered.