Smell Tests to Screen for Covid-19

Smell Tests to Screen for COVID-19

The Science Behind Smell

Our expertise in multisensory printing is built on decades of experience and research. The science of smell provides some of the strongest evidence available for the unique connection between our sensory perceptions and our brains. Scents evoke feelings, memories and moods in a way that other sensory perceptions cannot match. But scent science goes far beyond psychology. A growing body of health research connecting smell dysfunction to an array of diseases and health conditions, most recently including COVID-19 infection, is driving interest in smell tests as a rapid, inexpensive screening option.

COVID-19 Infection, Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s Among Conditions that Can Bring Loss of Smell

Long used as a means of assessing smell dysfunction among people for whom a sense of smell is critical to safety on the job, smell tests can help identify potential symptoms of disease and neurological conditions including Alzheimer’s, epilepsy, head trauma and Parkinson’s disease. And while smell dysfunction can also be a part of the aging process, an assessment of the ability to smell and taste has been identified as an early indication of possible COVID-19 infection and is included in the list of symptoms provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

The University of Pennsylvania, the Mayo Clinic, Harvard, University of California San Diego Health and others are among the research centers where studies have found that loss of smell and taste is often an early indicator of COVID-19 infection. Some research suggests that people infected with COVID-19 are 10 to 27 times more likely to experience smell dysfunction than fever, especially in early stages.

If you’re looking to produce an inexpensive, easy to use smell test to screen for COVID-19, you need a print partner with the right processes, experience and expertise for high-quality, long-lasting scent applications.

Screen printing offers many advantages, which is one reason why experts in the field of scent and scent dysfunction have reached out to H&H Graphics for the creation of printed tests to assess smell function.

Sensonics International, a New Jersey-based company founded by one of the country’s leading researchers in the field of smell and taste, recently contracted with H&H to print the 8-Item Sensonics Smell Test™ for use as a rapid screening test for identifying smell dysfunction- a key early symptom of possible COVID-19 infection.

The test is not intended as a means to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

H&H expertise for the application of custom scents to a wide array of print and packaging projects has made us the go-to multisensory print provider for many of the world’s best-known brands.

In addition to R&D capabilities for precisely reproducing the smell of virtually anything, decades of experience in screen printing leave us uniquely qualified for scent-imprinted projects.

Screen Printing vs. Flexo

Screen printing is by far the most effective process for achieving high-quality, long-lasting and accurately distributed scent elements in a wide variety of projects. Unlike flexo and offset printing, screen printing has a distinct advantage in its ability to imbue a wide variety of substrates with an even, long-lasting and precisely deposited layer of scent that doesn’t just fade away with time. Such accuracy and resilience enables us to provide the scent quality needed in the growing market for tests used to assess dysfunction in a person’s ability to smell.

Your Smell Test

Contact us to learn more about smell tests or any other project incorporating scent and other multisensory applications or to get started on your custom smell test project today.

Smell Tests to Screen for COVID-19 - Example