COVID-19
Where to Participate in Smell Loss Research NOW!
Sense of Smell and COVID-19: Join this Monell Center study about the sense of smell and how the flu/COVID affects it. See here to register or to smellstudy@monell.org.
Kids and Smell Loss: Participate in Monell/Temple University 5-min educational activity for children and adolescents to monitor how their sense of taste and smell changes from day to day. This video shows how to complete the activity, with information on smell and taste loss.
Global Consortium for Chemosensory Research: Join the Smell and Taste Challenge, which allows participants to track changes in their sense of smell and taste on a daily. Do you have an ordinary cold/flu or COVID-19 right now or within the last two weeks? Fill out the GCCR survey here!
Interested in how our genetic makeup affects COVID-19? Click here to participate in Coronagenes!
Absent.org: Join the Sense of Smell Project
FifthSense.org: Check out their list of studies.
The Smell and Taste Association of North America: Check out this new group’s Resources page.
Help Raise Awareness
If you are looking for materials to raise awareness, please download these free posters, Talk to Your Child About Smell Loss and Quick Facts on Smell, Taste and COVID-19.
Talking with Your Child About Smell and Taste
Smell loss can also happen in childhood. What can you do to learn more?
One thing scientists know about the virus that causes COVID-19 is that it can make some cells in the nose suddenly stop working for a while. Often, these cells restart working, though not always properly. How can you help your child express changes in their sense of smell and taste and possibly detect COVID-19?
Scientists at Monell and Temple University prepared a few tools to help:
- Check out this flyer to the right with information on how to talk about smell and taste with your child
- If you want some help, participate in this 5-minute activity which can help you monitor your child’s smell and taste changes
- Watch this video to better understand smell and taste loss and have a walk-through of the activity
Bonus: This is a great activity to do with your kids and engage them in science over the holiday break.
If you have any questions, please email us at valentina.parma@temple.edu
Scientific Research
Read about a Monell and Temple University team that recently became part of a new National Institute of Health-funded initiative called the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostic Radical program. The NIH invested $107 million at 43 institutions across the country to support non-traditional and repurposed technologies to combat the pandemic and address future viral disease outbreaks. The award represents a significant achievement as Monell’s first major effort to validate SCENTinel, a rapid smell test.
Read about how smell tests using direct measures versus self-report show 75% of people with COVID-19 lose their sense of smell.
A real-time COVID-19 Smell Loss tracker. Created at Monell, this tool allows people to stay up-to-date with global COVID-19 research, specifically studies reporting smell loss. Please be patient – the page takes a moment to load.
Read about how you can participate in (and share) a Monell study regarding your sense of smell and COVID-19.
Learn about a self-administered test to track the acuity of your senses of smell and taste, the loss of which are useful predictors of COVID-19.
Check Your Smell
Sudden loss of smell is a sensitive indicator of COVID infection
Six Features of a Comprehensive Smell Test
We have received many questions about smell tests for COVID-19 symptom checking. Building on years of experience developing the NIH Toolbox® Odor Identification Test and other smell tests, scientists Dr. Pam Dalton, from Monell, and Dr. Valentina Parma, from Temple University and Monell, created the following list of the six most-important features of a smell-test suitable for COVID-19 surveillance:
- Can be administered quickly without trained personnel
- Uses easily identified odors and avoids strong odors such as mint or cinnamon that activate the trigeminal nerve
- Has multiple versions to allow for repeat testing with the same person over time
- Presents odor choices at the same intensity every time (a decrease in the perceived intensity of odor is an important early symptom of COVID-19)
- Offered as a single-use material to prevent disease spread
- Designed so that “correct” answers are not easy to guess
Taking all these features into consideration, a smell test was recently developed by the Monell-Temple team. To learn more about the test, contact scentinel@monell.org and read more here in a scientific preprint publication!
Watch More
Watch webinar recordings from the Global Consortium for Chemosensory Research on current COVID-19 research.
Watch Monell VP Nancy Rawson and postdoctoral fellow Federica Genovese on this AbScent.org talk, The Coronavirus: A Cell’s Eye View.
A video introduction to the Global Consortium for Chemosensory Research (GCCR). Learn how you can take part in their international survey about how a sudden loss of taste and smell is related to COVID-19.
Read More from Monell
Read an interview with Pam Dalton, who studies how emotions and thought patterns affect the way people perceive odor and sensory input from their surroundings (July 31, 2020)
Read a press release about Monell’s involvement in the Global Consortium of Chemosensory Researchers (GCCR). (Apr 7, 2020)
Read an interview with Dr. Bruce Kimball – who studies how disease alters animals’ body odors – about how his work may possibly inform the COVID-19 pandemic. (Apr 6, 2020)
Monell in the News
SELF, 6 Ways to Cope With Having No Sense of Smell (From Coronavirus or Anything Else) (March 3, 2021)
The New York Times Magazine, What Can Covid-19 Teach Us About the Mysteries of Smell? (January 28, 2021)
The Philadelphia Inquirer, A Humidifier Could Help Ward Off COVID-19, but Don’t Overdo It (December 14, 2020)
The Guardian, Anosmia: How Covid Brought Loss of Smell Centre Stage (December 5, 2020)
The Wall Street Journal, Damaged Sense of Smell in Covid Patients Holds Clues to How Recovery Might Work (November 23, 2020)
The Washington Post, When Coffee Smells like Gasoline: Covid Isn’t Just Stealing Senses — It May Be Warping Them (November 5, 2020)
HealthDay News, Loss of smell more common in COVID-19 than thought (October, 27, 2020)
Philadelphia Inquirer, Loss of smell is an earlier COVID-19 symptom than fever; Philly’s Monell Center has sniff test for screening in the works (October 26, 2020)
KYW radio, New research confirms taste and smell losses are COVID-19 indicators (October 5th, 2020)
Smithsonian, Why Covid-19 Patients Are Suffering From Distorted and Phantom Smells (September 21, 2020)