Re: [DIYbio] Covid-19 superspreaders

Interesting question, Jochen. I am a plant biotech / genomics person. So I am not an expert in infectious disease / virology.

However, I feel you may be on to something. Here are links to some potentially related scientific papers - in no particular order, and all are free to download:

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6052543/

Vet Res. 2018; 49: 65.
Published online 2018 Jul 18. doi: 10.1186/s13567-018-0568-0
PMCID: PMC6052543
PMID: 30021653
Ciliostasis of airway epithelial cells facilitates influenza A virus infection

2. bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.06.328369; this version posted October 6, 2020.

SARS-CoV-2 infection damages airway motile cilia and impairs mucociliary clearance

3. MICROBIOLOGY Volume 150, Issue 9

Ciliostasis is a key early event during colonization of canine tracheal tissue by Bordetella bronchiseptica
Tracy L. Anderton1, Duncan J. Maskell1, Andrew Preston1,2
First Published: 01 September 2004 https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.27283-0

4. https://iai.asm.org/content/iai/29/3/1111.full.pdf

INFECTION AND IMMUNITY, Sept. 1980, p. 1111-1116 Vol. 29, No. 3

0019-9567/80/09-111 1/06$02.00/0
Ciliostatic, Hemagglutinating, and Proteolytic Activities in a Cell Extract of Mycoplasma pneumoniae

What a quick perusal of their abstracts suggest to me, are the following ( I do not have bandwidth to search for / read more such papers):

A. In humans, various pathogens that enter through the airway, may induce ciliostasis to improve colonization, for effective infection

B. This appears to be true in non-human animals as well.

C. Salt treatment may be able to reverse ciliostatis

D. If 1-3 are accurate, salt water irrigation of oral and nasal mucosa with a certain [NaCl] may be helpful?

Since this is such a low-tech solution, and because there is easily available literature to support such an approach,

I wonder if there might not already be experimental data (from amateurs to DIYers to professionals) looking to test this hypothesis.

Because this is not my area of expertise, I cannot and will not comment further. But I welcome a scientific discussion on this

that is comprehensible for all levels of audience in this email thread. 

Our collective quarantine fatigue, combined with the promise of effective vaccine may cause some of us to engage in disproportionally 

risky behavior, in terms of SARS-CoV-2 spread. Therefore, salt VS. SARS-CoV-2, if found to be effective, would have both practical application and scientific value.

Thank you, in advance. Cheers!

On Thu, Dec 10, 2020 at 4:49 PM jochen <loopdemere@gmail.com> wrote:

Hello Together,

I have a question to you! Maybe someone knows something about it.

In the last months i searched in my freetime for data or scientific studies if i can find something about the maybe slower spread of Covid-19 or lower infection rate in the group of people, who spend a lot of time in or at salt water. For example: diver, surfer, fisher etc., or Covid-19 data about places where they live.

Because i wonder, if it could be possible to reduce the high Sars-CoV-2 viral load in the upper airways with salt-water. And use it in a nose spray, for example.

Additionaly it could relieve sneeze* and the nasal congestion.  

(maybe a normal isotonized salt-water-spray will do, possibly a mixture with too strong salt content is not suitable for the long term use)

Perhaps, if the most of us do this as a additionally preventive measure, the high spread of Covid-19 could be reduced a little? Especially in the group of superspreaders i can imagine an effect.

* Recently I found an interesting study in this regard: "A study of fluid dynamics and human factors driving droplet dispersion from a human sneeze": https://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/5.0032006 (Physics of Fluids,12. November 2020)

As far as I know, the measure can also strengthen the mucous membranes, make them more resistant and moisty, especially when people are often in closed rooms.

What do you think, could it do anything? Or do you know who I could ask about it?

Thank you very much.

Best Wishes,

Jochen 

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