Dogs can detect Covid-19 by sniffing armpits

[Still Waters]

Dogs are able to detect the presence of Covid-19 on infected patients by sniffing their armpits, according to a new study by French scientists.

Researchers at the national veterinary school in Alfort, outside Paris, trained eight Belgian Malinois shepherd dogs to identify people infected with the coronavirus from odour samples taken from the armpits of more than 360 subjects, both healthy and suffering from Covid-19.

The dogs’ overall success rate was 95 per cent, according to a paper published on Friday on Biorxiv.org, a preprint website that posts studies that have not been peer-reviewed.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/dogs-detect-covid-19-sniffing-144406324.html

[SHaYap]

As long as the dogs aren't in danger of getting infected in the process... 

~

[eight bits]

54 minutes ago, third_eye said:

As long as the dogs aren't in danger of getting infected in the process...

Yes, the full paper (link is in SW's OP article) shows great concern, and effective steps taken, to ensure the dogs' safety. Apparently, humans don't shed the virus through sweat. Other precuations included letting the samples "age" for at least a day before being used in the scent trials, which is longer than the virus can survive on the gauze material used.

Respect, even love, for the dogs comes through throughout the paper.

[SHaYap]

44 minutes ago, eight bits said:

Other precuations included letting the samples "age" for at least a day before being used in the scent trials, which is longer than the virus can survive on the gauze material used.

My concerns rather remains due to the fact that we don't really know all that much of this virus to be so confident as to assume that such risks can be completely eliminated. 

Don't get me wrong, I trusts dogs when it is cases of detecting cancer, epileptic seizures or instances of panic attacks which are already quite established in various health care fields. It must also be reminded that not all dogs have that capacity to be as reliable as the ones that are now famously known for those capabilities. 

I'm just concerned about reliability in the long run, and in cases where there are mistakes, covid19 does measure the greater in the ends when it comes to dire consequences, maybe it's too soon to be too reliant on the dogs, best to err on the side of avoidance than caution for now. 

~

[eight bits]

52 minutes ago, third_eye said:

maybe it's too soon to be too reliant on the dogs, best to err on the side of avoidance than caution for now. 

The paper is clear that it is a proof-of-concept study, not something that would be widely fielded in the immediate future. The dogs themselves had already been trained in sniffing and signalling for other things. Naive dogs would need to start from scratch.

As it is, the study has yielded important, potentially useful information that the virus does definitely make this kind of physiological change in its human victims. Even if dogs are never used for "diagnosis," these dogs who contributed to the study have made a contribution to the scientific understanding, and eventual taming of this disease.

Good dogs.

 

[freetoroam]

Poor dogs.

 

[Hankenhunter]

Stranger: Excuse me, why is your dog sniffing my armpits?

Me:

[SHaYap]

6 hours ago, eight bits said:

Good dogs

Agreed, the irascible subject remains the novel virus... 

~

[Golden Duck]

10 hours ago, third_eye said:

My concerns rather remains due to the fact that we don't really know all that much of this virus to be so confident as to assume that such risks can be completely eliminated. 

Don't get me wrong, I trusts dogs when it is cases of detecting cancer, epileptic seizures or instances of panic attacks which are already quite established in various health care fields. It must also be reminded that not all dogs have that capacity to be as reliable as the ones that are now famously known for those capabilities. 

I'm just concerned about reliability in the long run, and in cases where there are mistakes, covid19 does measure the greater in the ends when it comes to dire consequences, maybe it's too soon to be too reliant on the dogs, best to err on the side of avoidance than caution for now. 

~

So getting Joy Milne to have a crack is out of the question?

Quote

...

But Joy's superpower is so unusual that researchers all over the world have started working with her and have discovered that she can identify several kinds of illnesses — tuberculosis, Alzheimer's disease, cancer and diabetes.

...

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/03/23/820274501/her-incredible-sense-of-smell-is-helping-scientists-find-new-ways-to-diagnose-di

[SHaYap]

18 minutes ago, Golden Duck said:

So getting Joy Milne to have a crack is out of the question?

I'd rather we keep Joy safe and keep doing what she does till more is known about sars-cov-2

~

[Still Waters]

Related (without the armpits)

Quote

A trial to see whether dogs can detect coronavirus is going "very well", according to the charity behind it.

Six dogs are being trained by Medical Detection Dogs in Milton Keynes.

Claire Guest, the charity's co-founder and chief executive, said the dogs were already showing signs that they would be able to sniff out the virus.

She has previously trained dogs to spot the scent of malaria, cancer and Parkinson's disease.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-53254200

 

[RAyMO]

First dog on second row - knows what's being asked and is not too amused!!! 

[Vorg]

On 6/8/2020 at 3:43 PM, freetoroam said:

Poor dogs.

 

There be a bunch of Pukin dogs in France now.

Edited July 4, 2020 by South Alabam