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SmellTracker Program to Help World to Detect Coronavirus
Breaking Israel News
Latest News Biblical perspective
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz April 3, 2020 , 10:55 am
“There you will serve man-made gods of wood
and stone, that cannot see or hear or eat or smell.”Deuteronomy 4:28 (The
Israel Bible™)
Scientist smell test (Photo by Shutterstock)
The nose knows that coronavirus is present – at least in
about 60 percent of those infected. Although this early-warning system hasn’t
been noticed much in China, it has been recognized in Israel, France, Iran and
in other countries affected by COVID-19.
Along with fever, cough and shortness of breath – many
coronavirus) patients report a temporary loss of their sense of smell. It
appears that olfactory (sense of smell) loss is significantly greater in such
patients compared to the loss that is often experienced during a cold and less
commonly, in non-COVID-19 influenza patients.
In some countries, such as France, a patient who claims
to have a sudden onset of olfactory loss will be diagnosed as a coronavirus
patient – without even being tested. A similar approach is being considered in
the United Kingdom.
Based on this data, researchers at the Weizmann Institute
of Science in Rehovot, in collaboration with the Wolfson Medical Center in
Holon (south of Tel Aviv) developed an online platform called SmellTracker. It enables self-monitoring
of an individual’s sense of smell for the purpose of detecting early signs of
COVID-19 or in the absence of other symptoms.
The lab of Weizmann neurobiology Prof. Noam Sobel, who is
head of Weizmann’s Azrieli National Institute for Human Brain Imaging and
Research, specializes in olfactory studies. The researchers previously
developed a mathematical model that accurately characterizes a person’s unique
sense of smell – a kind of personal “olfactory fingerprint.” Based on this
algorithm, SmellTracker guides users on how to map their sense of smell using
five scents found in every home (spices, vinegar, toothpaste, various scent
extracts, peanut butter and the like).
The odor test, which lasts about five minutes, is able to
monitor sudden changes in odor perception that may be an early indication of
the onset of COVID-19 disease. The researchers report that the tool they
developed has already successfully identified potential coronavirus cases that
were later confirmed. Aside from personal monitoring, as more data is
collected, the researchers are more likely to be able to characterize a unique
olfactory fingerprint for the early detection of COVID-19.
Olfactory loss was not commonly reported in the city of
Wuhan, China, where COVID-19 first broke out. Nevertheless, preliminary studies
conducted in several countries, including Israel and Iran, show that this
symptom appears in about 60% of patients. Scientists estimate that there are
currently eight active strains of coronavirus. Sobel’s lab believes that
olfactory loss may be a differentiating symptom of the various strains. If this
turns out to be true, the SmellTracker will be able to map the various
outbreaks geographically.
Besides SmellTracker, Sobel’s lab is distributing
“scratch and smell” kits among confirmed coronavirus patients to map their
sense of smell, as well as a unique questionnaire.
The venture, which was launched with backing from
Israel’s Defense Ministry, will be officially promoted in the coming days in
Sweden, France and other countries. The scent test is currently available in
English, Hebrew and Arabic, and it will also be available in Swedish, French,
Japanese, Spanish, German and Persian.
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