I’m one of those who are prone to having a sore throat from time to time. A change in the weather or environment, poor diet, and general neglect of health, which can happen even to the best of us — can weaken our immunity against cold or flu virus. Most sore throats are caused by viruses, usually the cold or flu virus.
There are more serious causes of sore throat that one should not ignore. These include tonsillitis, mononucleosis (mono), and strep throat. Sore throats may also be caused by smoking and mouth breathing while asleep. One may also get a sore throat because of pollution and allergies to pets, pollens, and molds. In my case, I’ve had a history of tonsillitis. Fortunately, the instances when I’ve had a sore throat weren’t serious enough that I’d need surgery. My doctor would give me a list of what not to eat or drink, prescribe Hexeditine oral gargle, and always there’s the throat lozenge.
While the above-mentioned are the commonly known cause of sore throat, many of us are aware by now that having a sore throat may also be a symptom of the COVID-19 virus.
A current scientific research and development conducted by the Microbiology and Immunology Institute of the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia, found that a combination of Benzydamine Hydrochloride (BH) and Cetylpyridinium Chloride (CPC) may have a virucidal (virus killing) effect against COVID-19 that helps reduce the risk of viral transmission.
This finding was also included in the presentation of Dr. Tony Leachon, an Independent Health Reform Advocate and formerly a part of the National Task Force for COVID-19, during a recent media conference held via Zoom.
In the preliminary findings, it was revealed that based on testing in a defined and controlled laboratory environment designed to mimic the conditions of the oral cavity, all three test settings showed strong virucidal activity against SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19 infection. The throat lozenge test products in a high concentration were the fastest at destroying the virus, reducing the viral concentration by 99.99 percent in as fast as one minute. This also suggests the possibility of reducing the amount of virus in the oral cavity as well as reducing the risk of viral transmission.
So how do those ingredients work exactly to kill the virus?
“The combination of Benzydamine Hydrochloride (BH) and Cetylpyridinium Chloride (CPC) helps in the destruction of the viral envelope, with unclear peplomers (of the S protein) formation, or even without peplomers and envelope, is visible under the electron microscope for virus particle samples exposed to high concentration of test products, “ Dr. Leachon explained.
“As what this study confirmed, there is an effective, strong virucidal effect of BH/CPC combination as a free active substance and as a lozenge, and CPC on SARS-CoV-2, with the possibility of reducing the amount of virus in the oral cavity and the potential to help reduce the risk of viral transmission,” said Dr. Leachon who is also a Past President of Philippine College of Physicians.
Is there any product out there today that contains both generic BH and CPC as active ingredients in a lozenge?
“Yes, there is/are. What you can do is ask the pharmacist in your local pharmacy what products contain these ingredients. You can also check the label to be sure,” he added.
The results of this study were first published by Andrej Steyer, Misa Marusic, Marko Kolenc, and Tina Triglav from the Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, in the article “A throat lozenge with fixed combination of cetylpyridinium chloride and benzydamine hydrochloride has direct virucidal effect on SARS-CoV-2”, COVID, 2021;1(2):435-446 (Available from: https://doi.org/10.3390/Covid1020037) which has since been republished with permission in the Romanian Journal of Pharmaceutical Practice (Sarafoleanu C et al, 2021).
This study is yet to be peer-reviewed, however, knowing this further encourages us in our fight against the virus.
Now that the economic activities have started opening up and the restrictions have been eased out by the government as many parts of the country are now on Alert Level 1, it is still important to observe the minimum health and safety protocols in place.
Get vaccinated and then have your booster shot when it is time, observe the standard health protocols such as proper hand-washing, physical distancing and mask-wearing in public places. As an addition, Benzydamine HCl and Cetylpyridinium Cl containing throat lozenges can also help in our fight against the COVID-19 virus.
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