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According to a health official, the number of coronavirus infections in Maharashtra's Thane district has increased to up to 12 new cases, bringing the total to 7,47,304. These fresh incidents, he claimed, were just reported on Sunday. According to him, there were 67 current COVID-19 cases in the district. 11,967 people have died in the district, which is a part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The official reported that 7,36,012 people have been recovered.
The nasal spray that has lately been in the headlines is something you may want to bring with you in such a case. One day, nasal sprays might be used to treat and prevent infections. Here is how the nasal spray works scientifically. According to Lara Herrero, Research Leader in Virology and Infectious Disease at Griffith University in Queensland, we have vaccines that strengthen our immune response to the COVID-causing SARS-CoV-2 virus. You can treat COVID with medications that you can take at home or in a hospital. Researchers are currently testing a novel idea. Drugs that prevent the virus from ever entering the body are what they are trying to create. This includes nasal sprays that prevent the virus from adhering to nasal cells.
On the other hand, other researchers are investigating whether nasal sprays can prevent the virus from multiplying in the nose or make the nose a hostile environment for the virus to enter the body. Here is the state of science at the moment and what lies ahead. How could the infection be stopped? The concept of "viral blockage," as the name suggests, is based on preventing SARS-CoV-2. To put it another way, if something gets in the way of the virus's ability to connect to a cell and infect you, it cannot do so. Since SARS-CoV-2 is a respiratory virus, it makes logical to administer this medication via a nasal spray, which is how the virus typically enters the body.
In the lab, some study is still being done. Some drugs have advanced to early human testing. None are currently offered for general usage. Heparin is a widely utilized drug that has been employed to thin the blood for many years. Heparin is safe and effective in blocking the virus from attaching to nasal cells, according to studies conducted on mice. Heparin, according to researchers, attaches to the virus itself and prevents it from adhering to the cells it is attempting to infect. A clinical trial is being carried out in Victoria as a result of a partnership between the University of Oxford and numerous research facilities in Melbourne.
Covixyl-V Ethyl lauroyl arginine hydrochloride, also known as Covixyl-V, is another nasal spray in development. By inhibiting or altering the cell surface, it seeks to stop COVID from spreading and infecting new cells. Early experiments in cells & small animals have demonstrated that this substance can block SARS-CoV-2 attachment and lower the total viral load. It has been investigated for use in treating a variety of viral illnesses. Iota-carrageenan This seaweed-derived chemical works by preventing virus entrance into airway cells. A nasal spray may lower the incidence of COVID by up to 80%, according to one study involving 400 healthcare professionals. IGM-6268 This artificial antibody binds to SARS-CoV-2 and prevents the virus from adhering to nasal cells. A clinical experiment to evaluate the safety of a mouth and nose spray is now underway.
How might we prevent the virus from multiplying? Making nasal sprays that prevent the virus from reproducing in the nose is another strategy. Genetic pieces that bind to the viral RNA are being created by researchers. These pieces often referred to as "locked nucleic acid antisense oligonucleotides" (LNA ASOs) throw a spanner in the works and prevent the virus from multiplying. These genetic snippets were sprayed into small animals' noses to limit virus proliferation there and stop sickness.
Altering the environment of the nose to make it less welcoming for the virus is another tactic. That could be done by using a nasal spray to add a virus-killing substance, adjusting the pH (by adding more acid or alkaline to the nose), or changing the moisture levels (by adding saline) (iodine). Through simple virus removal, saline can decrease the amount of SARS-CoV-2 in the nose. Saline nasal irrigation has even been shown in one study to lower the severity of COVID disease. But more study on saline sprays is necessary. An iodine-based nasal spray was found to lower the viral load in the nose, according to a study headed by Australian researchers. More clinical trials are anticipated.
In one investigation, a test spray was employed, which contained glycerol, potassium chloride, eucalyptus & clove oils, among other components. The intention was to eradicate the virus while modifying the nose's acidity to stop it from adhering. It has been demonstrated through laboratory and clinical testing that this innovative formulation is safe and reduces infection rates from around 34% to 13% when compared to placebo controls.
One of the main obstacles to using nasal sprays for COVID, despite encouraging data so far, is maintaining the sprays in the nose. Most sprays require many applications per day, sometimes every few hours, to combat this. Therefore, based on what we currently know, nasal sprays won't completely defeat COVID. But if they pass regulatory scrutiny and are found to be safe & successful in human trials, they could be yet another tool in the fight against it.
