Researchers from France and the United Arab Emirates tested dogs' ability to detect
The researchers collected sweat samples from 355volunteers, 143 of whom had symptoms of the disease, similar in their characteristics to coronavirus infection, and the rest believed that they were healthy. All participants were tested with PCR and antigen tests. The test results showed that there were 109 people infected with coronavirus in the group, including 78 with symptoms of the disease and 31 asymptomatic.
During the experiment, the scientists gave the dogssniff the collected sweat samples. It turned out that animals identify people who had a positive PCR test result with an accuracy of 97%. At the same time, the dogs managed to detect all asymptomatic carriers of the virus. According to the researchers, the sensitivity of dogs was higher than that of antigen tests sold in pharmacies. The latter in experiments showed a sensitivity of only 84%.
According to the authors, previous studiesshowed that dogs can smell when someone near them has cancer. Scientists still do not know how this mechanism works, which does not prevent its use. The only downside to the new method is the limited number of trained dogs, the researchers say.
Cover image: Nosais Team
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