Feature
ESSENTIAL Naples
Anti-Viral
FALL 2020
22
Nasal Spray May Prevent COVID-19 Infection By Steven Frank
“Researchers at UNC School of Medicine endorsed the benefit of an antiviral nasal spray in stopping COVID-19 infection.” -Steven Frank
W
e wear masks to protect others from our exhaled droplets. These droplets may contain virus. It is a considerate gesture and quite helpful. However, when the moisture of the droplet evaporates (relatively soon after being exhaled) the viral particles remain suspended in the air that we breathe and they are MUCH smaller than the holes in our masks. Some virus will get through as the masks are not sufficient protection for the wearer. What can we do to protect ourselves? Researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine found that the COVID-19
virus first attaches to the nasal passageways and begins its replication there, in your nose. The particles are then shed from the colonies in your nose and are inhaled (aspirated) into your lungs where it proliferates and damages your body. “If the nose is the dominant initial site from which lung infections are seeded, then the widespread use of masks to protect the nasal passages, as well as any therapeutic strategies that reduce virus in the nose, such as nasal irrigation or antiviral nasal sprays, could be beneficial,” said Dr. Richard Boucher, a distinguished professor of medicine and the director of the Marsico Lung Institute and the UNC School of Medicine. In fact, the authors of the study proclaimed that the nose is the dominant site as it has more of the surface
