Common Nasal Spray Cuts COVID Risk by Two-Thirds in Clinical Trial
A new clinical trial, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, has shown that azelastine nasal spray may significantly reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The phase 2 randomized, double-blind study, titled CONTAIN, involved 450 participants and revealed a threefold lower infection rate in the treatment group using azelastine compared to those given a placebo.
The trial divided participants into two groups. The treatment group, consisting of 227 individuals, used an azelastine nasal spray three times daily for 56 days. The 223 participants in the control group used a placebo spray over the same period. “During the observation period, 2.2% of the participants in the azelastine group became infected with SARS-CoV-2; in the placebo group, it was 6.7% — three times as many,” said Professor Robert Bals, Director of the Department of Internal Medicine V at Saarland University Medical Center and Professor of Internal Medicine at Saarland University. All infections were verified through PCR testing.
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