Relationship between odor intensity estimates and COVID-19 prevalence prediction in a Swedish population

International audienceIn response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, countries have implemented various strategies to reduce and slow the spread of the disease in the general population. For countries that have implemented restrictions on its population in a stepwise manner, monitoring of COVID-19 prevalence is of importance to guide the decision on when to impose new, or when to abolish old, restrictions. We are here determining whether measures of odor intensity in a large sample can serve as one such measure. Online measures of how intense common household odors are perceived and symptoms of COVID-19 were collected from 2440 Swedes. Average odor intensity ratings were then compared to predicted COVID-19 population prevalence over time i

A chemical signal in human female tears lowers aggression in males.

Rodent tears contain social chemosignals with diverse effects, including blocking male aggression. Human tears also contain a chemosignal that lowers male testosterone, but its behavioral significance was unclear. Because reduced testosterone is associated with reduced aggression, we tested the hypothesis that human tears act like rodent tears to block male aggression. Using a standard behavioral paradigm, we found that sniffing emotional tears with no odor percept reduced human male aggression by 43.7%. To probe the peripheral brain substrates of this effect, we applied tears to 62 human olfactory receptors in vitro. We identified 4 receptors that responded in a dose-dependent manner to this stimulus. Finally, to probe the central brain substrates of this effect, we repeated the experiment concurrent with functional brain imaging. We found that sniffing tears increased functional connectivity between the neural substrates of olfaction and aggression, reducing overall levels of neural activity in the latter. Taken together, our results imply that like in rodents, a human tear-bound chemosignal lowers male aggression, a mechanism that likely relies on the structural and functional overlap in the brain substrates of olfaction and aggression. We suggest that tears are a mammalian-wide mechanism that provides a chemical blanket protecting against aggression

Proof of concept for real-time detection of SARS CoV-2 infection with an electronic nose.

Rapid diagnosis is key to curtailing the Covid-19 pandemic. One path to such rapid diagnosis may rely on identifying volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by the infected body, or in other words, identifying the smell of the infection. Consistent with this rationale, dogs can use their nose to identify Covid-19 patients. Given the scale of the pandemic, however, animal deployment is a challenging solution. In contrast, electronic noses (eNoses) are machines aimed at mimicking animal olfaction, and these can be deployed at scale. To test the hypothesis that SARS CoV-2 infection is associated with a body-odor detectable by an eNose, we placed a generic eNose in-line at a drive-through testing station. We applied a deep learning classifier to the eNose measurements, and achieved real-time detection of SARS CoV-2 infection at a level significantly better than chance, for both symptomatic and non-symptomatic participants. This proof of concept with a generic eNose implies that an optimized eNose may allow effective real-time diagnosis, which would provide for extensive relief in the Covid-19 pandemic

Erratum: Relationship between odor intensity estimates and COVID-19 prevalence prediction in a Swedish population (Chem. Senses (2020) DOI: 10.1093/chemse/bjaa034)

This is a correction notice for article bjz034 (DOI: https://doi. org/10.1093/chemse/bjaa034), published on 22 May 2020. Due to an error in the script used to create subsections of Figure 1, there was both a shift in the intensity data and an erroneous calculation of error bars in all panels. Figure 1 and the accompanying figure legend have been revised to show the correct levels and error bars. This script error only affected visualization of the data in Figure 1 and did not impact the reported data or conclusions.(Figure Presented)

Relationship Between Odor Intensity Estimates and COVID-19 Prevalence Prediction in a Swedish Population

International audienceIn response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, countries have implemented various strategies to reduce and slow the spread of the disease in the general population. For countries that have implemented restrictions on its population in a stepwise manner, monitoring of COVID-19 prevalence is of importance to guide the decision on when to impose new, or when to abolish old, restrictions. We are here determining whether measures of odor intensity in a large sample can serve as one such measure. Online measures of how intense common household odors are perceived and symptoms of COVID-19 were collected from 2440 Swedes. Average odor intensity ratings were then compared to predicted COVID-19 population prevalence over time i

Relationship Between Odor Intensity Estimates and COVID-19 Prevalence Prediction in a Swedish Population (vol 45, bjaa034, 2020)

This is a correction notice for article bjz034 (DOI: https://doi. org/10.1093/chemse/bjaa034), published on 22 May 2020. Due to an error in the script used to create subsections of Figure 1, there was both a shift in the intensity data and an erroneous calculation of error bars in all panels. Figure 1 and the accompanying figure legend have been revised to show the correct levels and error bars. This script error only affected visualization of the data in Figure 1 and did not impact the reported data or conclusions.(Figure Presented)