Analysis of Volatile Organic Compounds in Exhaled Air and in Sweat in the Context of Suspicion of COVID-19 Infection

In the context of the actual pandemia of the Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) which requires a better diagnostic strategy for the management of patients.

The study of volatile organic compounds (VOC) detected in exhaled air or in sweat, is an innovative research area for respiratory diseases. The analysis of VOC can be done either by the technique of the mass spectrometry which allows the identification of each VOC in the exhaled air or by the technique of electronic nose, simpler and faster, which provides an idea of the general profile of the VOC without identifying them. The VOC have shown their interest in some situations, such as diagnostic or prognostic tool in patients followed for thoracic tumorous pathology or bronchial or pulmonary vascular diseases.

Moreover, it has recently been shown that properly trained dogs would be able to detect an olfactory signature of SARS-CoV-2 infection with a specificity greater than 90%; this olfactory signature corresponds to VOCs detectable by the flair of dogs (Nosaïs-Covid19 study).

Validation of the diagnostic value of VOC analyzes by non-invasive and rapid methods (electronic nose analysis or mass spectrometry; detection by the scent of dogs) for the rapid detection and early diagnosis of a SARS-CoV-2 infection warrants the performance of this clinical study.