Sniffer dogs should detect corona infection: Spectacular study in old people's homes

Created: 07/05/2022, 14:10

By: Niklas Hecht

Sniffer dogs can sniff out corona infections.

A study in Hesse is now investigating the extent to which the four-legged friends can help with early detection in nursing homes.

Wiesbaden - The sense of smell of sniffer dogs is a marvel of evolution.

It is not for nothing that the four-legged friends have become indispensable as warning systems for explosives or illegal substances in modern police work.

However, their use is also becoming increasingly popular in the medical field.

Because they can not only detect explosives or drugs from the molecular composition of an odor, but also the threatening hypoglycaemia of diabetics and various cancers.

Now another field of activity could open up for the sleuths: in the early detection of Corona.

A study by the University Medical Center Mainz, in which the state of Hesse is covering around a third of the costs with 90,000 euros, is currently investigating the extent to which sniffer dogs can help contain the virus in old people's and nursing homes.

The homes were particularly affected by the corona pandemic.

Outbreaks have resulted in the closure of entire facilities in many places.

With the study, those responsible hope to get decisive information for early detection as a central element of pandemic containment, explained the Hessian Minister of Social Affairs Kai Klose (Greens) and Professor Bodo Plachter, acting director of the Institute for Virology at the University Medical Center Mainz, as reported by fnp.de.

Corona study in Hesse: sniffer dogs already used in many other areas

Numerous studies have already shown that sniffer dogs can sniff out a corona infection with great accuracy.

British researchers were the first to test this idea - back in May 2020, a few months after the outbreak of the pandemic.

According to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, six dogs had sniffed out samples from infected people with an accuracy of 82 to 94 percent.

The British researchers used socks from 200 infected people and 200 healthy people in the control group.

The first test in Germany started in July 2020: at the Bundeswehr service dog school in the Vulkaneifel.

After training, the sniffer dogs were able to correctly identify 92 percent of the more than 5,000 samples submitted, as reported by the University of Veterinary Medicine Hanover in 2021 in the journal "BMC Infectious Diseases".

The success of the dogs was independent of whether the animals were presented with a urine, saliva or sweat sample.

A nose ahead: Corona sniffer dog Drago sniffs in the garden of a care facility at a special training box for Corona-positive odor samples.

© Boris Roessler/dpa

Corona detection dogs were also used early on in tests at airports.

According to Helsinki Airport, Finland was one of the pioneers.

Later, more and more areas of application were added: In France there was a corona sniffer dog in a retirement home, and one of the first German practical applications was a concert by the band Fury in the Slaughterhouse in Hanover.

In 2022, the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover published another study in the journal "Frontiers in Medicine" which states that corona detection dogs can also identify long-Covid patients.

Results of the corona study are expected in autumn

The current study by the University Medical Center Mainz in Hesse is now intended to provide information on how sniffer dogs can be used in the early detection of old people's and nursing homes.

So far, the study has been carried out in one of the 955 inpatient nursing homes in Hesse.

However, all institutions in the country could participate, explained the senior physician and head of the Clinical Research Center of the Dermatology Clinic and Polyclinic of the University Medicine Mainz.

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In the anonymous study, which was carried out under real conditions, skin swabs and a nose and throat swab for PCR testing are carried out on positive Sars-CoV-2 rapid tests.

A swab is presented to the sniffer dogs outside the building.

A second skin swab is examined in a laboratory for specific olfactory information.

The first results of the study are expected in autumn, said study leader Professor Petra Staubach-Renz.

After that, a decision will be made on the further establishment of the procedure.

Explosives detection dogs are retrained to become corona sniffers

The two dogs, which are taking part in the study by the Mainz University Medical Center in Hesse, were previously used to detect explosives, according to Daniel Jannett, head of the dog training center at Awias Aviation Services GmbH in Braunschweig.

The special training for the Corona project lasted three to four months.

And indeed: Shepherd mix Drago, one of the two trained noses, only needs one or two seconds until he has sniffed out the corona sample in the smell machine.

After being quickly rewarded with a treat, the black, four-year-old dog immediately recognized the other samples on the grounds of the Nassauische Blindenfürsorge in Wiesbaden.

(Niklas Hecht)

From Thursday, June 30, there will also no longer be free corona citizen tests for everyone in Hesse.

Anyone who wants to be tested in test centers or pharmacies now usually pays at least three euros out of their own pocket.