Second Source: Do Nasal Sprays Help Prevent COVID-19?
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Infection and hospitalization rates for COVID-19 are rising yet again, but unlike previous waves of illness, there’s a firmly established list of what prevents its spread. Masking, social distancing, vaccines, and quarantining after a positive test — the list is short for a reason, and it’s got the backing of almost the entire medical community behind it.
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An alternative, unproven method for prevention that’s been picking up steam on social media is COVID-19 nasal sprays, with one in particular, Covixyl-V, claiming to create a liquid barrier within the nose to block airborne viruses. Many of these sprays are formulated with active ingredients like carrageenan and hypromellose, among others, that are supposed to make it harder for viruses to replicate and enter the body through the upper respiratory tract.
While countries like China, India, Russia, and Iran have approved nasal vaccines for COVID-19, there are currently no nasal sprays approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat or prevent COVID-19. Until this happens, Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an MD and Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) discourages relying on them for any type of protection.
“As a clinician, I would never recommend [nasal sprays] to someone as an intervention,” said Dr. Chin-Hong. “There’s no clinical data that’s convincing.”
While some compounds, like nitric oxide, have shown promising early results in small trials, Dr. Chin-Hong noted that this doesn’t mean they’ll pan out as a vetted treatment. A small study of 80 patients found that nitric oxide sprays reduced viral load in patients by 95% in 24 hours.
“It’s like what happened with ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine that former President Trump promoted. You look at some early data, it looks good in a lab and makes sense, but when you study it, it doesn’t pan out,” said Dr. Chin-Hong.
The regulation on products like nasal sprays is much looser than vaccines or ingestible medicine. This makes a situation like this difficult from a clinical perspective, since the early evidence is promising, yet thin, and it’s easier for brands to get approval to sell them widely.
“Most of these compounds work as a physical barrier and that’s why they’re not under the purview of a drug,” explained Dr. Chin-Hong. “If it was called a drug, there would be a lot more oversight over it, but because it’s a physical barrier like an ointment it falls out of that jurisdiction.”
Some of the active ingredients have antimicrobial properties, according to Chin-Hong, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to preventing all illnesses or neutralizing other viruses.
“For example, the Covixyl-V has the ingredient that’s in Listerine that helps gingivitis. It’s shown to reduce gingivitis and is FDA-approved for that. But just because you show it’s effective in one area doesn’t mean it can prevent coronavirus,” explained Dr. Chin-Hong.
The data isn’t there, at least not yet, but if it does pan out this could become an efficient and sustainable way to treat COVID-19. A review published in February of 2023 by the National Institute of Health (NIH) discussed the promising potential benefits of nasal vaccines for skeptics and those hesitant to get booster shots.
After all, it’s easier to convince some people to get a squirt up the nose than a stick in the arm. Plus, according to the review, if the virus is neutralized at its initial point of contact it’s less likely to wreak havoc on deeper, more vital organs like the lungs, heart, and brain.
For now, these remain an experimental prospect rather than a vetted form of protection. We don’t recommend choosing them over a mask, vaccine, or FDA-approved test, but it’s a technology worth keeping an eye on for the future.
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