All dogs sniffed sweat samples collected from 355 human volunteers. The researchers found that they were 97% accurate in identifying those who had already tested positive by the PCR test. They were 100% accurate in diagnosing COVID-19 in those who did not experience any symptoms. In other tests, dogs were found to be more accurate in identifying people with COVID-19 disease than commonly used antigen tests at home.
In another study, researchers from Assistance Publique-Hopitaux de Paris included PCR and sweat samples from 335 people and antigen tests on 234 people recruited in Paris between March 16 and April 9, 2021.
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The researchers examined five dogs that had been trained to sniff out COVID-19 disease to see if they could tell by positive and negative tests. They found that the sniffer dogs were 100% accurate in detecting positive COVID-19 cases in asymptomatic individuals compared to PCR test results.
Compared with 97% accurate antigen tests, the efficiency of the cores was slightly lower in detecting 90% of adverse events and detecting negative COVID-19 virus infections.
Nasopharyngeal swabs may be an alternative to RT-PCR when non-invasive detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection by canine alfalfa requires rapid results based on symptoms such as antigenic testing in the context of mass screening. The researchers wrote in the paper.
Researchers note that sweat samples were collected from the armpits, back of the neck, and used masks, proving that samples could be collected from multiple body sites. They also point out that it is not yet known how dogs can sense the smell of infections in people. They point out that dogs are much faster at detecting COVID-19 than any man-made test, which provides immediate results. The only drawback the team found was the lack of trained dogs.
Source: Medindia
