A smell test might work better in screening for the novel coronavirus than looking for cough or fever, suggests a new study published in JAMA Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery. 

Patients with COVID-19 often lose their sense of smell without even noticing it. However, researchers could use simple scratch-and-sniff cards to detect 75% of infected individuals and 95% of the individuals without the infection. The study included 163 adults who were undergoing screening for COVID-19 with the standard PCR analysis of nasal swabs. All participants were given a card with scratch-and-sniff scents that they were asked to identify from a multiple-choice selection. Dr. Mena Said of the University of California, San Diego stated that in comparison with other symptoms, such as cough, fever, fatigue, and history of exposure to COVID-19, failing the smell card appeared to best predict COVID-19 positivity. 

Quick smell tests might serve as a pragmatic approach to limit COVID-19 transmission if larger studies with more diverse population groups can confirm the findings of this study… (Reuters, July 16, 2021)