Screening for SARS-CoV-2 persistence in Long COVID patients using sniffer dogs and scents from axillary sweats samples

Grandjean, Dominique; Slama, Dorsaf; Gallet, Capucine; Julien, Clothilde; Seyrat, Emilie; Blondot, Marc; BENAZAZIEZ, Maissa; ELBAZ, Judith; Salmon‐Céron, Dominique

doi:10.1101/2022.01.11.21268036

Cited by 8 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…In other words, when acute COVID-19 samples are presented next to Long COVID samples the dogs rather indicate the samples from acute cases, with the smell they were trained on. In a recently published study performed by Grandjean et al, dogs identified only 51.5% of Long COVID patients when they were presented next to healthy individuals ( 20 ). The lower percentage of identified Long COVID patients compared to our results (51.5 vs. 92.86%) might be explained by the differing sample quality as the samples used by Grandjean et al were taken at home and were sent via mail without standardized freezing or cooling of the samples ( 20 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a recently published study performed by Grandjean et al, dogs identified only 51.5% of Long COVID patients when they were presented next to healthy individuals ( 20 ). The lower percentage of identified Long COVID patients compared to our results (51.5 vs. 92.86%) might be explained by the differing sample quality as the samples used by Grandjean et al were taken at home and were sent via mail without standardized freezing or cooling of the samples ( 20 ). Nevertheless, these results also support the hypothesis that the disease-specific odor of acute COVID-19 is still present in the majority of Long COVID samples, but probably not as strong as in samples of acutely infected COVID-19 patients ( 20 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Detection of Post-COVID-19 Patients Using Medical Scent Detection Dogs—A Pilot Study

et al. 2022

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There is a growing number of COVID-19 patients experiencing long-term symptoms months after their acute SARS-CoV-2 infection. Previous research proved dogs' ability to detect acute SARS-CoV-2 infections, but has not yet shown if dogs also indicate samples of patients with post-COVID-19 condition (Long COVID). Nine dogs, previously trained to detect samples of acute COVID-19 patients, were confronted with samples of Long COVID patients in two testing scenarios. In test scenario I (samples of acute COVID-19 vs. Long COVID) dogs achieved a mean sensitivity (for acute COVID-19) of 86.7% (95%CI: 75.4–98.0%) and a specificity of 95.8% (95%CI: 92.5–99.0%). When dogs were confronted with Long COVID and negative control samples in scenario IIa, dogs achieved a mean sensitivity (for Long COVID) of 94.4 (95%CI: 70.5–100.0%) and a specificity of 96.1% (95%CI: 87.6–100.0%). In comparison, when acute SARS-CoV-2 positive samples and negative control samples were comparatively presented (scenario IIb), a mean sensitivity of 86.9 (95%CI: 55.7–100.0%) and a specificity of 88.1% (95%CI: 82.7–93.6%) was attained. This pilot study supports the hypothesis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) being long-term present after the initial infection in post-COVID-19 patients. Detection dogs, trained with samples of acute COVID-19 patients, also identified samples of Long COVID patients with a high sensitivity when presented next to samples of healthy individuals. This data may be used for further studies evaluating the pathophysiology underlying Long COVID and the composition of specific VOC-patterns released by SARS-CoV-2 infected patients throughout the course of this complex disease.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detection of Post-COVID-19 Patients Using Medical Scent Detection Dogs—A Pilot Study

et al. 2022

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“…Several studies have shown the ability of medical scent detection dogs to identify samples from SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals with high accuracy, highlighting the role such dogs could play in the management of a pandemic. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] Previous research showed that different body fluids, such as saliva, sweat and urine and other sample types like worn face masks are suitable for detection,…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The use of rapid point of care antigen-tests (PoC-antigen tests) for the diagnosis of a SARS-CoV-2 infection continues to be a key tool to manage the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Several studies have shown the ability of medical scent detection dogs to identify samples from SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals with high accuracy, highlighting the role such dogs could play in the management of a pandemic 1–13. Previous research showed that different body fluids, such as saliva, sweat and urine and other sample types like worn face masks are suitable for detection, which suggests that there is a general SARS-CoV-2 infection associated odour that dogs can be trained on 14–16.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Canine real-time detection of SARS-CoV-2 infections in the context of a mass screening event

et al. 2022

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IntroductionPrevious research demonstrated that medical scent detection dogs have the ability to distinguish SARS-CoV-2 positive from negative samples with high diagnostic accuracy. To deploy these dogs as a reliable screening method, it is mandatory to examine if canines maintain their high diagnostic accuracy in real-life screening settings. We conducted a study to evaluate the performance of medical scent detection dogs under real-life circumstances.MethodsEight dogs were trained to detect SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR-positive samples. Four concerts with a total of 2802 participants were held to evaluate canines’ performance in screening individuals for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Sweat samples were taken from all participants and presented in a line-up setting. In addition, every participant had been tested with a SARS-CoV-2 specific rapid antigen test and a RT-qPCR and they provided information regarding age, sex, vaccination status and medical disease history. The participants’ infection status was unknown at the time of canine testing. Safety measures such as mask wearing and distance keeping were ensured.ResultsThe SARS-CoV-2 detection dogs achieved a diagnostic specificity of 99.93% (95% CI 99.74% to 99.99%) and a sensitivity of 81.58% (95% CI 66.58% to 90.78%), respectively. The overall rate of concordant results was 99.68%. The majority of the study population was vaccinated with varying vaccines and vaccination schemes, while several participants had chronic diseases and were under chronic medication. This did not influence dogs’ decisions.ConclusionOur results demonstrate that SARS-CoV-2 scent detection dogs achieved high diagnostic accuracy in a real-life scenario. The vaccination status, previous SARS-CoV-2 infection, chronic disease and medication of the participants did not influence the performance of the dogs in detecting the acute infection. This indicates that dogs provide a fast and reliable screening option for public events in which high-throughput screening is required.

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“…According to varied studies, a high level of antibodies either appears to be protective [7] or, conversely, to be associated with higher persisting symptoms [7, 8]. So far, the underlying mechanisms of these symptoms remain unclear: the persistence of viral RNA and/or proteins has been demonstrated in some cases in Long COVID patients [10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15; 16]. To date, it is not known whether this genetic or protein material persistence corresponds to a replicating virus or not.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors associated with release relief of Long COVID symptoms at 12-Months and their impact on daily life

Salmon

Slama

Linard

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Introduction: Our purpose was to describe the course of Long COVID symptoms after 12-month follow-up, their impact on daily life and the factors associated with the relief of symptoms. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted within an out-patient clinic for Long COVID patients. Participants, who had experienced their initial COVID-19 episode between January, 15 2020 and May 21, 2021, were contacted 12-months post onset. Their characteristics, symptom course at initial COVID-19 episode, Long COVID phase and one year follow-up along with remission status were collected through a questionnaire and a specific post COVID remission scale from complete remission to persistence of symptoms and dependence in daily life activities. Results: Among the 231 long COVID participants who answered the 12-month follow-up questionnaire, 63.2% had developed SARS-CoV-2 antibodies before COVID-19 vaccination. At 12-month follow-up, only 8.7% of the participants felt in complete remission while 28.6% noted a significant improvement of their symptoms. The prevalence rate of most symptoms remained high at 12 months: asthenia 83.1%, neurocognitive and neurological symptoms 91.8%, cardiothoracic symptoms 77.9%, musculoskeletal 78.8%. During Long COVID phase, 62.2% had to stop working at least once and only 32.5% resumed professional activities full time at one year follow-up. The presence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies before COVID-19 vaccination was associated with an increased probability of significant improvement at one year (aPRR: 1.60, p=0.028) while ageusia at initial Long COVID phase was associated with a lower probability of improvement (aPRR: 0.38, p=0.007). Conclusion: While observing a trend towards some improvement in a majority of long COVID patients at a 12-month follow-up, fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, cardiothoracic symptoms and neurocognitive impairment persisted in most of them. Having developed SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was associated with a better prognosis while persistent ageusia at long COVID phase seems to be associated with the persistence of symptoms.

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Screening for SARS-CoV-2 persistence in Long COVID patients using sniffer dogs and scents from axillary sweats samples

Cited by 8 publications

References 6 publications

Detection of Post-COVID-19 Patients Using Medical Scent Detection Dogs—A Pilot Study

Detection of Post-COVID-19 Patients Using Medical Scent Detection Dogs—A Pilot Study

Canine real-time detection of SARS-CoV-2 infections in the context of a mass screening event

Factors associated with release relief of Long COVID symptoms at 12-Months and their impact on daily life

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