There are a number of case reports highlighting atypical presentations of patients subsequently found to be COVID-19 positive. A patient presented complaining of otalgia and tinnitus only was found to have positive COVID-19 RT-PCR as well as lung involvement in CT.
Adding to the conversation of androgen associations to COVID-19, researchers hypothesize that benign prostatic hyperplasia treatments, specifically 5α-reductase inhibitors, may contribute to the higher mortality observed in men by causing increased lung concentrations of androgens, which can have anti-regenerative effects in damaged lung tissue.