Thread by @sailorrooscout

THIS IS HUGE! Researchers at Harvard Medical School have developed a nasal spray that in preclinical studies, offered NEARLY 100% protection from respiratory infections by COVID-19, influenza, viruses, AND pneumonia-causing bacteria. Let’s talk about that! 🧵⬇️

Researchers are calling their discovery Pathogen Capture and Neutralizing Spray (PCANS). The results are published in the journal Advanced Materials. Yes, it is PEER-REVIEWED.
• onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ad…

Researchers say the spray "coats the nasal cavity, capturing large respiratory droplets from the air, and serving as a physical barrier against a broad spectrum of viruses and bacteria, while rapidly neutralizing them with over 99.99% effectiveness."

In other words, it catches the viruses and bacteria at the typical point of entry into our bodies -the nose- and stops them there.

NOTE TO KEEP IN MIND. ‼️

THIS IS NOT A SUBSTITUTION FOR VACCINES.

This would be an added layer of protection.

There ARE some caveats. These results came from a study involving mice, not people. The study was conducted in a laboratory, not the outside world.

Nonetheless, the news IS promising. The product is fairly cheap, its ingredients are safe, and it might reduce our risk of

getting colds or flu during winter flu season ALONG WITH vaccines.

Researchers said the nasal spray reduced the load of viruses and bacteria - including Influenza A and B, SARS-CoV-2, RSV, adenovirus and a bacterial form of pneumonia- by over 99.99% and persisted in the nose

for eight hours.

It is the first such spray to come close to this type of protection. Previous sprays have provided between 20% and 70% protection.

The spray works by forming a protective coating (a gel-like matrix) on the nasal cavity, which captures airborne respiratory droplets and acts as a physical barrier against viruses and bacteria, while effectively neutralizing them. This gel doesn't affect the user's breathing.

Experiments in mice showed that a single dose of the PCANS nasal spray could effectively block infection from an influenza virus (PR8) at 25 times the lethal dose. Virus levels in the lungs were reduced by >99.99 percent, and the inflammatory cells and cytokines in the lungs of

PCANS-treated animals were normal.

While the study’s limitations include the lack of human studies of PCANS, it provides a strong foundation for future research to explore the full potential of PCANS in a broader context as it could play a key role in reducing respiratory

diseases and safeguarding public health against new threats. The researchers are exploring whether PCANS can also block allergens, opening a potential new avenue for allergy relief and will be moving forward in human clinical trials.

You can read all this and more here:
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•onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ad…
news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/…
news-medical.net/news/20240925/…
usnews.com/news/health-ne…
msn.com/en-us/health/o…