My 82-year-old father has a very bad odor that lingers in each room he goes in. What could it be?

Fruity breath may mea diabetic ketoacidosis which may need hospitalization.

Clearly this requires a doctor's attention.

What are his blood sugars running? You might be asked that when you make the appointment -- a same day or next day appointment, not a week from Tuesday!

Sorry to hear that Larry abut your grandpa thanks for the heads up.

Never forget my Grandpa with Stomach cancer and it moved to his bowels-sickening sweet. Hope it's not; best wishes-

Thank you for your help.

I suspect he needs better sugar control, then. Did his doctor prescribe a program for him so that he could learn what to eat and how to work it with his insulin or tablets. Diet is so, so important. We recently lost a friend who had diabetes, but didn't eat right. Her blood sugar ran over 400 a lot. It destroyed her kidneys in a few years. She was on hemodialysis, but that carries it own risks. If you are noticing the smell, then his sugars must be high. Talk to him about diet and getting on a program so he can spare his kidneys. He wouldn't want to go through what our friend did the last few months of her life.

Thank you he has been recently diagnosed with diabetes about 2 months ago just noticed the odor more in the last 2 weeks even if he's not in the room you can tell he has been in the room the smell just lingers so badly feel like I can smell it on myself too

If he has a sweet smell he needs to be checked for diabetes. Has his doctor checked his A1C recently? It is a simple test that they can usually do in the office now. If it isn't diabetes, maybe they can figure out what is causing it. I normally associate either fruity or acetone smells with diabetes.