Nothing to sneeze at: Chinese researchers hope their nasal mask catches a virus before you do
- Intranasal hydrogel shows promise in neutralising airborne viruses responsible for various respiratory infections
- Researchers say mask could be engineered to provide protection from ‘multiple viruses at the same time’
A team of scientists said they have developed a nasal spray that turns into a gel when exposed to body heat, creating an invisible intranasal mask that can be tailored to trap specific viruses before they can invade the respiratory tract.
Viral receptors contained within the gel that help to inactivate the viruses remain active for up to eight hours, the researchers reported in a paper published in Nature Communications on December 18.
The intranasal mask, which has been tested on mice and on a model of the human respiratory tract, “dramatically reduced the likelihood of respiratory viral infection,” the paper said.
Many infectious diseases thrive through airborne transmission in the form of tiny droplets that can easily enter the respiratory tract.
In the paper, the scientists said they set out to create a preventive treatment capable of intercepting and inactivating viral particles at the point of entry. The spray mask consists of a positively charged thermosensitive hydrogel that intercepts the negatively charged viral droplets when they are inhaled through the nose.
Once the viral aerosols are trapped in the gel, the virus is inactivated by microsized vesicles – tiny cellular-derived structures that have no cell organelles or DNA.