Some common drug items may have the potential to reduce the oral “viral load” of SARS-CV-2, a coronavirus that causes Covid-19 in people with the disease.
In a recent study published in the Journal of Medical Virology, researchers at Penn State College of Medicine said that certain oral antiseptics, mouthwash and baby shampoo “may have a potential inactivated human coronavirus when sneezing or coughing while talking, although further testing . Required.
However other experts are skeptical about the usefulness or relevance of these findings, as this study did not specifically test the SARS-Cov-2 strain of the coronavirus, nor does it test the usefulness of the products in humans.
However, Penn State researchers called the findings “promising” and led them to believe that certain oral rinses and other tested products could also help reduce the spread of SARS-CAV-2..
“Researchers have found that many of the nasal and oral rinses have a strong ability to neutralize human coronavirus, suggesting that these products may be able to reduce the amount of virus transmitted by people who are Covid-19-positive,” Penn State said in a statement. Said.
Craig Meyers, a professor of microbiology and immunology and obstetrics and gynecology, along with his team of researchers, has studied a variety of ways to reduce the transmission and spread of human coronavirus by aerated respiratory drops. Transmission of SARS-Kovi-2.
According to Meyers, “I was in the drugstore and I just saw a bottle of Listerine, and it said, ‘Kill the germs.’ And I thought, ‘What the heck?’ I bought it and we threw it into studies and “while inactivating the human coronavirus, Meyers tells CNBC Make It” I was a little surprised at how well it works.
Another study, published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases in July, added some oral rinses to inactivate Saras-Covi-2. Researchers in Germany tested eight commercial mouthwashes in a cell culture test and found that the SARS-Covy-2 viral load was dramatically reduced after 30 seconds. However, the authors conclude that further study is needed and that mouthwash is not suitable for the treatment of COD-19.
Meyers also says that the products they tested (J&J Baby Shampoo, Oragel Antiseptic Rinse, Listerine Antiseptic and Peroxide Sour Mouth, to name a few) still need clinical trials that can reduce the amount of virus in patients with Covid-19 positive. What specific ingredients in the oral cavity and solution inactivate the virus.
To conduct the study, Meyers and his team of scientists used a human coronavirus called 229e, which they say is structurally similar to SARS-CV-2. (Meyers says special features are needed to use SARS-Cavi-2 and most of them have been reported during epidemics. Plus, viruses like 229E have a strong basis for being an accurate surrogate of SARS-CAV-2, he says. However other experts say the two viruses are not interchangeable.)
The researchers placed the virus in solution with each product for 30 seconds, then one minute, and finally two minutes. (Critics say that the average person is probably longer than having a mouthwash in his mouth.) To find out how effective the virus was, the researchers diluted the solution and put it in contact with human cells.
A few days later, they calculated how many human cells survived after being exposed to the products. In these findings, a 1% baby shampoo solution inactivates the virus by 99 by. %% after two minutes, while some mouthwashes were able to inactivate the virus by 99.99% after a contact time of just seconds.
“Even if the use of these solutions could reduce transmission by 50%, it would have a big impact,” Meyers said in a release on Monday. But without further clinical trials, Meyers says it is too early to know exactly how people will use these findings to potentially slow the spread of Covid-19.
Although Meyers personally uses mouthwash twice a day, he warns people not to use these products in the hope of fighting Covid-19.
“I would say wear your mask, make your social distance. Do what you believe but this could be an extra help,” Meyers says.
This story has been updated to include additional critiques of the Penn State study.
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