Testing for Covid-19 With Hard Candy Possible
I had a Covid-19 test a few months ago. The q-tip made its way past my nasal cavity and probed my thoughts and memories. My test was negative but so was the experience. Not really, I am being a bit of a baby, it was quick and although super strange feeling it didn't actually hurt. However if I could have opted for a sweeter option like smelling and eating a jolly rancher um, yes! Count me in on that Covid test.
This may seem like a kid thought of it but we all know that loss of taste and smell is a super common symptom and one that is only linked with Covid. Due to that a team of researchers at Ohio State University are working on a study to determine if hard candy can be used effectively to screen for taste and smell loss and identify possible cases of COVID-19. They are using common flavors in the study including apple, peach, and cherry. The study has 2,800 study participants during a three-month period.
Idaho News Chanel 2 sniffed out the story (bahahaha) and reported that The study is costing around $305,000 and is being funded through the National Institutes of Health. The study is launches next month. I wish they would have done this like 6 to 8 months ago. As soon as they get this to where it could be used widespread for testing we will (hopefully) be in a decline across the US. Maybe that's wishful thinking or maybe I am just jealous that I didn't get to be tested this way.
Participants will be required daily to smell and consume a specially designed piece of hard candy. They then use and app to identify the taste and smell. If the participant reports a sudden drop in taste or smell, they'll get a text message encouraging them to quarantine and seek an official test for Covid. So it seems more like a pre-screen.
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