Sudden Hearing Loss from a Virus—Is It Catching?
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
Recently a man phoned me and explained,
My boss suddenly lost the hearing in one ear due to a virus. My question to you is—is he contagious? In other words, can I lose my hearing from being near him?
I’ve answered thousands of questions related to ears, but this is the first time this particular question has ever come up. Even though no one has asked it before, it is an excellent question.
There’s good news and bad news. First the bad news. Yes, he is contagious—in exactly the same way as if he had a cold or flu. If your immune system isn’t up to par, you could catch his cold or flu from being around him—because that is likely the kind of “bug” he has.
Now for the good news. The chances of your having the same reaction to his virus if you get it is minuscule. For example, I’ve heard of family members having sudden hearing loss from a virus, but I’ve never heard of another family member also getting the virus and having a sudden hearing loss. I’m sure it is possible, but it must be extremely rare if it does occur.
The virus that causes sudden deafness is not some strange, esoteric virus, but just the regular viruses that are around us like cold viruses, flu viruses, Chicken Pox (Varicella) viruses, etc. Normally they cause all the symptoms you know well, but sometimes, for whatever reason, they get into the inner ear and wreak havoc there resulting in sudden hearing loss and/or balance problems.
Personally, I wouldn’t be at all worried about “catching” sudden hearing loss from your boss.
March 1st, 2008 at 3:13 pm
Hi,
Can you please tell me if the sudden loss of hearing due to a virus is permanant? Will any of my hearing come back and is there anything one can do? It is driving me crazy! Many thanks Chris
March 1st, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Hi Chris:
Some people recover most of their hearing, and others are left with permanent severe hearing loss. So you can’t generalize and predict what will happen.
If you see an ear specialist in the next few days after you notice a hearing loss, he may prescribe Prednisone and sometimes an anti-viral, and these can stop further hearing loss and put you on the road to recovering some or most of your lost hearing.
However, this has to be done quickly. By the time 30 days have passed, it is unlikely that any treatment will help and the hearing you have at the end of 30 days or so is a good indication of what you will likely have permanently.
July 28th, 2008 at 12:39 am
The same thing happened to me in March of last year and I lost most of the hearing in my left ear. It unfortunately has not returned
July 17th, 2009 at 9:08 pm
i had a debilitating virus about 6 weeks ago and started lossing hearing shortly thereafter. over the past few weeks there has been considerable loss in both ears. the first doctor i saw said it was due to cochlear degeneration and there was nothing to do about the loss (which was still ongoing). a second wonderful doctor put me on prednisone and the first two days my hearing improved enormously. by the end of the 2nd day, however, my hearing again started to diminish. now he wants to put me on a more intense prednisone regiment. what are the chances of my getting my hearing back? of tinnitus ending? is it likely that this hearing loss is due to the virus and not cochlear degeneration for which nothing can be done? i’m appreciative of any thoughts.
my partner recently had “vestibular neuronitis”. could this also be related to a virus? she is having occasional double vision now and other seemingly neurologically related symptoms.
July 19th, 2009 at 9:40 am
Hi Amy:
Prednisone works for some people–obviously it worked well for you. However, when your hearing starts getting bad again after Prednisone treatments, I have to wonder what is going on.
One possibility is that the virus is still active–in which case your doctor might want to prescribe an anti-viral as well as the Prednisone.
If your hearing loss was not related to a virus, but for example, autoimmune inner ear disease (AIED), then Prednisone can recover hearing while you are taking it, but in some people the hearing loss returns as soon as they quit taking the Prednisone.
Since the Prednisone worked at the start, it may be worthwhile trying a more aggressive Prednisone therapy to see what happens. Just don’t stay on the Prednisone too long so you don’t get all the other side effects that Prednisone can cause.
If your hearing returns, there is a good chance that your resulting tinnitus will go away, but there are no guarantees.
As for your friend’s vestibular neuronitis, yes, it could be caused by a virus–for example, the herpes simplex Type 1 virus.
July 23rd, 2009 at 11:18 am
Coming back from a trip my ears plugged when the plane was landing, something that happens all the time. The next day my hearing had not returned and I came down with a severe case of the flu. Two weeks after I contacted our family doctor about my hearing loss and she advised to have my ears checked for wax. My ears were clean. Next I was put on a nose spray and still my hearing did not return. Last week I was seen by an audiologist who advised me I had about 50% hearing in both ears and that it would not return. She recommeded two hearing aids. Is there any chance that my hearing will return without the aid of hearing devices? At this stage my ears feel the same as they did when the plane was landing.
August 31st, 2009 at 5:20 pm
I just heard about this virus from a friend. i have the same thing… The flu and hearing loss in one hear.
June 5th, 2010 at 10:18 pm
My wife was taken Ill and bed ridden for 2 weeks. The family Doc gave he several prescriptions after man trips to correct her virus. One morning she wok up and said he ears felt like they where filled with fluid. Another trip to the Doc he placed her on a steroid and told her to see an ENT. It took 4 weeks to get the ENT appointment, once seen the ENT and audiologist talk her that she had suffered “sudden hearing loss†and there no longer any anything that can be done to correct the problem. We where also told that had we seen the ENT a month ago she could have been placed on steroids and she would have not lost her hearing. Wow – what a shock. My wife is now 100% death in the right and has a problem in the left. She is suffers from in-balance and is on a low sodium diet. Any ideas? Dan
July 10th, 2010 at 9:19 pm
MARCH 7/2010 I WENT ON 12 DAY SIX COUNTRY CRUISE IN EUROPE, GOT VERY SICK THE 3RD DAY. STAYED ON THE SICK SHIP UNTIL MY RETURN 12 DAYS LATER. WENT TO MY DOCTOR THE VERY NEXT DAY. HAD FEVER,BRONCHITIS, AND BOTH EARS STOP UP. OF COURSE I HAD RX’S FOR THE BRONC,I ALSO HAD HIGH DOSE OF PREDNISONE FOR THE EARS ALONG WITH 2 DIFFERENT NASAL SPRAYS AT THE SAME TIME. HAD SINUS XRAYS WHICH WERE FINE. I THOUGHT IT WAS FLUID IN EARS, WENT TO THE E.N.T. FRIDAY(4 MONTHS LATER) TO BE TOLD I LOSS MY HEARING AND I DID NOT HAVE FLUID IN THE EARS AND TO START THE NASAL SPRAY AGAIN,GO TO THE HEARING SPECIALIST FOR HEARING AIDS..I HEAR, BUT THE FEELING IN THE EARS HAVE NOT GONE AND WAS TOLD IT WILL NOT GO THIS IS WHAT LOSS OF HEARING IS. I AM DONE WITH THESE NAME BRAND CRUISE SHIPS.
July 15th, 2010 at 11:27 pm
Hi , My 10 year old son has recently been diagnosed with bilateral LVAS. He has almost complete hearing loss in one ear and the other ear is perfect.
Is this common in LVAS?
Is it likely that his other ear will lose hearing also?
What % of hearing do cochlear implants provide?
Regards Kerry