Predominant SARS-CoV-2 variant impacts accuracy when screening for infection using exhaled breath vapor.
Mitchell M McCartneyEva BorrasDante E RojasTristan L HicksKatherine L HameraNam K TranTina ThamMaya M JuarezEnrique LopezNicholas J KenyonCristina E DavisPublished in: Communications medicine (2022)
We report that the volatile signature of COVID-19 in breath differs between the Delta-predominant and Omicron-predominant variant waves, and accuracies improve when samples from these waves are modeled separately rather than as one universal approach. Our findings have important implications for groups developing breath-based assays for COVID-19 and other respiratory pathogens, as the host response to infection may significantly differ depending on variants or subtypes.