Your patient recently had a viral infection and now she cannot move the muscles on the right side of her face. In addition, she is experiencing a loss of taste and dry mouth and she cannot close her right eye. Which cranial nerves have been affected by the viral infection?
The Facial Nerve (VII) is affected by the viral infection. It functions to produce facial expression, innervation of oral cavity glands, as well as innervation of a part of the tongue. With this, the inability to move the muscles in their face, loss of taste, dry mouth, and inability to close their right eye are all symptoms that may be caused by damage to the Facial Nerve caused by the viral infection.
Dulak, D., & Naqvi, I. A. (2020). Neuroanatomy, Cranial Nerve 7 (Facial). PubMed; StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK526119/#:~:text=The%20facial%20nerve%20provides%20motor