COVID-19 and vaccine reactogenicity in MEBO/PATM community

Infections have been shown to alter body odor and so have immunizations. So far, only nonhuman animals were able to detect the subtle changes in chemical makeup after vaccinations and even their sensitive noses were not able to differentiate between different vaccines - such as the rabies virus or the West Nile virus vaccines [Kimball et al, 2014]. However, this was the case of very mild reactions to immunization. Even slightly stronger inflammatory responses, to relatively weak immune challenges, can, indeed, be detected by human noses [Gordon et al, 2018]. Urine and axillary odor are becoming slightly more aversive in healthy humans, as a function of immune activation. But this is not supposed to last too long.

Our preliminary results, based on responses to the survey for 24 members of MEBO community and 6 of their family members show a wide variety of reactions to Astrazeneca, J&J, Moderna, Pfizer and Sinovac/Coronavac vaccines. 

Interestingly, Pfizer vaccine that caused no or very mild reactions in several MEBO participants, was also the vaccine that possibly caused temporary worsening of odor symptoms in one person in the community. Another MEBO participant that reported possible worsening of odor from Moderna vaccine had one thing in common with the other individual - they both had pre-existing conditions related to their upper digestive tract. Some Astrazeneca recipients also reported odor issues but did not think it was worse than usual. 

One of the most interesting observations was that even though only 2 members of MEBO/PATM community reported COVID-19 infection (before or between vaccinations), both of them had long COVID with long-term neurological manifestations such as fatigue, ENT symptoms and loss of smell.

Adverse reactions to COVID-19 vaccines are influenced by a multitude of factors, many of which can be anticipated and alleviated. A certain level of inflammation is needed to trigger an effective adaptive immune response, but both environment and genetic makeup determine who is more likely to experience particular symptoms after infection and from the vaccine.

You can help by telling us about your experiences with COVID-19 and/or vaccinations. These surveys can be used for posting your brief stories - no need to answer all the questions. And you can always add to your story later. Please use your anonymous ID and let us know if you have any questions.

Survey

in English:  https://bit.ly/BTN-eng

en Español: https:/bit.ly/BTN-esp

We'll be posting more observations and comparisons with over 600 participants of our study from other communities. 

REFERENCES

Blumental S, Debré P. Challenges and issues of anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. Frontiers in Medicine. 2021;8.

Gordon AR, Kimball BA, Sorjonen K, Karshikoff B, Axelsson J, Lekander M, Lundström JN, Olsson MJ. Detection of inflammation via volatile cues in human urine. Chemical senses. 2018 Nov 1;43(9):711-9.

Kimball BA, Opiekun M, Yamazaki K, Beauchamp GK. Immunization alters body odor. Physiology & behavior. 2014 Apr 10;128:80-5.

Inhale and feel it with your heart

All you need is love. Or failing that chocolate.
And not only because dark chocolate could lower the risk of heart disease, blood pressure and sugar levels. As Dr. Schieberle's team recently discovered that heart could sense and enjoy the sweet smell of chocolate too. When they put small odor-emitting molecules from chocolate on one side of a dish, cells actually moved towards the aroma.

The heart, the lungs, the blood, the sperm and testis all have the abilities to recognize chemicals responsible for smells. Genomic studies (Deldmesser et al, 2006) showed that many tissues have working genes responsible for the perception of flavors. Sperm of sea urchines is able to recognize the odor and swim toward the egg. Human sperm might very well be capable of "smelling" their way to the egg too. And white blood cells sense the odors of bacteria to rush to the site of infection in the wound. Unfortunately, cancer cells can also sense their way out of the tumor in the direction of blood vessels, leading to metastasis. Smells can guide social preferences, trigger positive or negative memories, help to lose weight, reduce anxiety or give you nightmares. Smells can make or brake, kill or heal. They can have therapeutic or diagnostic use helping to understand gene-environment health paradigms and paving new avenues for future health care strategies.

REFERENCES

Feldmesser E, Olender T, Khen M, Yanai I, Ophir R, & Lancet D (2006). Widespread ectopic expression of olfactory receptor genes. BMC genomics, 7 PMID: 16716209

Schieberle P, & Molyneux RJ (2012). Quantitation of sensory-active and bioactive constituents of food: A Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry perspective. Journal of agricultural and food chemistry, 60 (10), 2404-8 PMID: 22369090

Schieberle P., Do cells in the blood, heart and lungs smell the food we eat? 245th  Chemistry of Energy and Food, National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, New Orleans, LA, April 7-11, 2013