Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34083749›Full record

ArticleCommunications biology2021

The detection dogs test is more sensitive than real-time PCR in screening for SARS-CoV-2.

Mohammed Hag-Ali, Abdul Salam AlShamsi, Linda Boeijen, Yasser Mahmmod, Rashid Manzoor, Harry Rutten, Marshal M Mweu, Mohamed El-Tholoth, Abdullatif Alteraifi AlShamsi

Open access · goldAbstract readEvaluation Study
In one paragraph

Article in Communications biology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
19citing papers in PubMed
2.1field-weighted citation impact, top 11% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

19 citing papers in PubMed, 36 citations in OpenAlex.

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  10. In search of COVID-19: The ability of biodetection canines to detect COVID-19 odours from clinical samples.Journal of the Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease Canada = Journal officiel de l'Association pour la microbiologie medicale et l'infectiologie Canada · 2022
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.

Mohammed Hag-AliHigher Colleges of Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. hagali@hotmail.com.ORCID 0000-0002-4301-9938
Abdul Salam AlShamsiFederal Customs Authority, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Linda BoeijenDiagNose Netherlands B.V. and Four Winds K9 Solutions LLC UAE, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.ORCID 0000-0001-7721-6297
Yasser Mahmmod *Higher Colleges of Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Rashid Manzoor *Higher Colleges of Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Harry RuttenDiagNose Netherlands B.V. and Four Winds K9 Solutions LLC UAE, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Marshal M MweuSchool of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya.
Mohamed El-TholothHigher Colleges of Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Abdullatif Alteraifi AlShamsiHigher Colleges of Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Higher Colleges of Technology · AEUniversity of Nairobi · KE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In January 2020, the coronavirus disease was declared, by the World Health Organization as a global public health emergency. Recommendations from the WHO COVID Emergency Committee continue to support strengthening COVID surveillance systems, including timely access to effective diagnostics. Questions were raised about the validity of considering the RT-PCR as the gold standard in COVID-19 diagnosis. It has been suggested that a variety of methods should be used to evaluate advocated tests. Dogs had been successfully trained and employed to detect diseases in humans. Here we show that upon training explosives detection dogs on sniffing COVID-19 odor in patients' sweat, those dogs were able to successfully screen out 3249 individuals who tested negative for the SARS-CoV-2, from a cohort of 3290 individuals. Additionally, using Bayesian analysis, the sensitivity of the K9 test was found to be superior to the RT-PCR test performed on nasal swabs from a cohort of 3134 persons. Given its high sensitivity, short turn-around-time, low cost, less invasiveness, and ease of application, the detection dogs test lends itself as a better alternative to the RT-PCR in screening for SARS-CoV-2 in asymptomatic individuals.

Indexed as

OdorantsWorking DogsAdultAgedAnimalsBayes TheoremCOVID-19COVID-19 Nucleic Acid TestingCOVID-19 TestingDogsFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedSARS-CoV-2Sensitivity and Specificity

Identifiers

PMID34083749
PMCPMC8175360
OpenAlexW3164666359

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.