Decrease in Covid-19 Contagiousness: Virucidals Control the Presence of Covid in Saliva and Salivary Glands
Author(s):
Giovanni Belcaro*, Umberto Cornelli, Maria Rosaria Cesarone, Beatrice Feragalli, Roberto Cotellese, Ezio Bombardelli, Mark Dugall, Marcello Corsi, Lars Rosenkvist and Sandeep Shah
Summary: This pilot study evaluated the effects of some virucidals in vivo (using the RT-PCR swab test) to evaluate the presence of COVID in the mouth saliva. With this model, if an asymptomatic subject is positive (in the mouth saliva, the first incubating medium), virucidals can be used, i.e., for a week, and the positivity re-evaluated to define the direct killing power of the virucidal.
Results: A progressive decrease in positivity in the swab samples was observed. Virucidals produced disappearance of positivity in most subjects at 3 and 7 days. All virucidals used in this pilot registry resulted effective. The pharmaceutical form seems to be important to assure persisting traces of the virucidal in the mouth. The gummy Phyrorelief CC possibly produced the longest action (>3 hours) due to its slower release. These preliminary observations indicate a significant effect of virucidals on the viral contamination of the mouth (the first incubator) with a relatively simple, cost-effective model. The lower presence of a virus charge or its decrease may significantly reduce contagiousness of most of these patients and possibly, the spread of viral material. The effects on the evolution of COVID-19 on single patients is, unpredictable with this model but virucidals may assume a significant community value in preventing and controlling spreading.