(Snippets from the frontline)
COVID-19/BLM: “Open for business, with our dog”
We are still trying to learn how coronavirus invades the body, responds to treatment, and spreads to others. Symptoms from this invasion can be loss of taste or smell, so its point of attack might be nasal tissue.
As medical detectives, odors created by tissue destruction can be a unique clue allowing us to diagnose disease. For example, doctors and nurses “smell” Clostridium difficile (“C diff”) associated with diarrhea, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa found in wound infections. Therefore, could the coronavirus attack also produce an odor?
Multiple studies reveal dogs may effectively “sniff out” coronavirus. (Look it up).
Think about this: Instead of waiting in line for testing, anticipating results, or lacking swabs or reagents, a trained dog could be our screening tool. They might strategically be stationed in front of businesses – like restaurants, hair salons, bowling alleys, or those queuing up for an airline flight. If you don’t get a “paws up okay”, no admission!
Forget temperature checks and waiting for symptoms. Trained dogs might be faster, more effective than testing, and a lot cheaper costing only “dog chow.”
The ASPCA has TV commercials rescuing dogs. Think about putting them to use, and making them “man’s best friend” again.
Gene Uzawa Dorio, M.D.
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