Acetic acid disinfection as a potential adjunctive therapy for non-severe COVID-19
- PDF / 689,867 Bytes
- 4 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 55 Downloads / 170 Views
SHORT COMMUNICATION
Acetic acid disinfection as a potential adjunctive therapy for non‑severe COVID‑19 L. Pianta1 · A. Vinciguerra2,3 · G. Bertazzoni1 · R. Morello1 · F. Mangiatordi4 · V. J. Lund5 · M. Trimarchi2,3 Received: 25 April 2020 / Accepted: 18 May 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Purpose SARS-CoV-2 is a new pandemic influenza caused by a coronavirus which main route of transmission is through exhaled droplets that primarily infect the nose and the nasopharynx. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effect of acetic acid, the active component of vinegar, as a potential disinfectant agent for upper airways. Methods Twenty-nine patients were enrolled and divided into two groups: group 1 (14 patients) was composed of patients treated with off-label hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir, whereas group 2 (15 patients) was composed of patients treated with hydroxychloroquine only, combined with the inhalation of acetic acid disinfectant at a 0.34% concentration. A questionnaire-based evaluation of symptoms was performed after 15 days in both groups. Results It appears that the number of patients treated with acetic acid (group 2) that experienced improvement in individual symptoms was double that of the other group of patients (group 1), although numbers are too small for robust statistical analysis. Conclusions Considering its potential benefits and high availability, acetic acid disinfection appears to be a promising adjunctive therapy in cases of non-severe COVID-19 and deserves further investigation. Keywords COVID-19 · Acid acetic · Disinfection · Coronavirus
Introduction The main route of transmission of the new coronavirus called COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) is through mucosal contact with infected exhaled droplets [1]. Considering the higher viral load detected in the nose, compared with the lower respiratory tract [2], this may be one of the first anatomical structures exposed to viral contagion as evidenced * M. Trimarchi [email protected] 1
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, ASST Cremona, Cremona, Italy
2
Division of Head and Neck Department, Otorhinolaryngology Unit, San Raffaele Hospital, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina, 68, 20100 Milan, Italy
3
School of Medicine, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milano, Italy
4
Department of Emergency, ASST Cremona, Cremona, Italy
5
Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital, UCLH, London, UK
by the fact that acute anosmia is a relatively common presenting symptom [3, 4]. With the rapid spread of COVID-19, global health-care systems have faced the challenge of treating an overwhelming number of patients for which there is no widespread immunity. As a result, many off-label therapies have been tried but so far with uncertain results. In addition, the mild symptoms in the majority of cases and the saturation of hospital beds may compel doctors to treat the majority of infected people at home. In this situation, experimental treatments are not readily available to
Data Loading...
