Can the detection dog alert on COVID-19 positive persons by sniffing axillary sweat samples? A proof-of-concept study
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Abstract
The aim of this proof-of-concept study was to evaluate if trained dogs could discriminate between sweat samples from symptomatic COVID-19 positive individuals (SARS-CoV-2 PCR positive) and those from asymptomatic COVID-19 negative individuals. The study was conducted at 2 sites (Paris, France, and Beirut, Lebanon), followed the same training and testing protocols, and involved six detection dogs (three explosive detection dogs, one search and rescue dog, and two colon cancer detection dogs). A total of 177 individuals were recruited for the study (95 symptomatic COVID-19 positive and 82 asymptomatic COVID-19 negative individuals) from five hospitals, and one underarm sweat sample per individual was collected. The dog training sessions lasted between one and three weeks. Once trained, the dog had to mark the COVID-19 positive sample randomly placed behind one of three or four olfactory cones (the other cones contained at least one COVID-19 negative sample and between zero and two mocks). During the testing session, a COVID-19 positive sample could be used up to a maximum of three times for one dog. The dog and its handler were both blinded to the COVID-positive sample location. The success rate per dog (i.e., the number of correct indications divided by the number of trials) ranged from 76% to 100%. The lower bound of the 95% confidence interval of the estimated success rate was most of the time higher than the success rate obtained by chance after removing the number of mocks from calculations. These results provide some evidence that detection dogs may be able to discriminate between sweat samples from symptomatic COVID-19 individuals and those from asymptomatic COVID-19 negative individuals. However, due to the limitations of this proof-of-concept study (including using some COVID-19 samples more than once and potential confounding biases), these results must be confirmed in validation studies.
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SciScore for 10.1101/2020.06.03.132134: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Institutional Review Board Statement not detected. Randomization not detected. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Sex as a biological variable not detected. Table 2: Resources
No key resources detected.
Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).
Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.
Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar …
SciScore for 10.1101/2020.06.03.132134: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Institutional Review Board Statement not detected. Randomization not detected. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Sex as a biological variable not detected. Table 2: Resources
No key resources detected.
Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).
Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.
Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.
Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.
Results from rtransparent:- Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
- No funding statement was detected.
- No protocol registration statement was detected.
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SciScore for 10.1101/2020.06.03.132134: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Institutional Review Board Statement not detected. Randomization All the trials are independent from each other, which means that for each trial, the location of the COVID-19 positive box was randomly assigned by using a randomization dedicated wellsite (52) Both samples and sample carriers were manipulated by the same person, wearing sanitary barrier protections and a pair of new surgical gloves at each trial, in order to avoid any olfactive contamination or interaction. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Sex as a biological variable One of these samples, made on a young woman, was marked positive by two male dogs without any environmental disturbance, but the dogs showing more … SciScore for 10.1101/2020.06.03.132134: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Institutional Review Board Statement not detected. Randomization All the trials are independent from each other, which means that for each trial, the location of the COVID-19 positive box was randomly assigned by using a randomization dedicated wellsite (52) Both samples and sample carriers were manipulated by the same person, wearing sanitary barrier protections and a pair of new surgical gloves at each trial, in order to avoid any olfactive contamination or interaction. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Sex as a biological variable One of these samples, made on a young woman, was marked positive by two male dogs without any environmental disturbance, but the dogs showing more excitation for the sample than usually for other positive ones. Table 2: Resources
Software and Algorithms Sentences Resources A bibliography request on PubMed including the key words “dog , detection and cancer” leads to 2612 publications , demonstrating that the dog’s nose is now considered as a tool for early detection of main cancers and their prevention . PubMedsuggested: (PubMed, SCR_004846)Results from OddPub: We did not find a statement about open data. We also did not find a statement about open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).
About SciScore
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