May nasal spray prevent COVID-19 spread?
Mississippi professors are on the research team
Researchers at the the University of Mississippi and the University of Mississippi Medical Center are on the front lines of developing a way to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Two faculty members for the university’s schools of pharmacy and medicine are part of a research team that is looking at developing a nasal spray that could potentially prevent infection by the virus.
If successful, the treatment could be prescribed by a doctor and self-administered, according to researchers.
The treatment uses heparin, a complex sugar that is commonly used as an anticoagulant, to block the virus from attaching to and entering cells.
The group of researchers is led by Joshua Sharp, a UM associate professor of pharmacology, and Ritesh Tandon, an associate professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. They are working in conjunction with a team from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York.
“We found very interesting results,” Tandon said in a news release. “Heparin was really effective against this virus, and it could neutralize the virus.”
Sharp said in the news release the use of a nasal spray came from data showing that COVID-19 establishes itself in the nasal cavity, making a spray a potentially effective way to prevent infection.
“Several groups have published data that indicate that most COVID-19 infections probably start with the virus infecting cells lining the nasal cavity,” Sharp said.
The team is looking at advancing their research to the clinical trial stage to confirm it is safe for humans and effective against the virus.
The recent development follows efforts in Hattiesburg to study the treatment and prevention of infection of COVID-19 patients.
The Hattiesburg Clinic, with Forrest General Hospital, joined two nationwide clinical trial programs in late July — one for treating seriously ill patients through Mayo Clinic and the other for preventing infection through vaccination with Moderna and the National Institutes of Health.
Ole Miss on Wednesday also announced a program to offer free COVID-19 tests to asymptomatic members of the university community.
The Sentinel Testing Program is designed to provide university officials with a better understanding of the virus’ presence in asymptomatic carriers and how it spreads on campus, according to a university news release.
Each week, a random sampling of students, faculty and staff are invited to take a free asymptomatic coronavirus test. The results are usually delivered in under an hour through the Gov2go app, and will help officials to adjust protocols while identifying asymptomatic carriers who may have otherwise spread the virus through the community, a university news release said.
Contact Justin Vicory at 769-572-1418 or jvicory@gannett.com. Follow @justinvicory on Twitter.