We may have a new way of protecting against COVID-19 that checks almost all the boxes: It's effective, it's affordable, it's easy to apply,
We may have a new way of protecting against COVID-19 that checks almost all the boxes: It's effective, it's affordable, it's easy to apply, it's already approved as safe for public use, it's available without prescription… and it's called azelastine.
This nasal spray has been available over the counter for decades now, under a variety of brand names, in over 70 countries. It's used to treat several allergies, including hay fever, and a new trial into its effectiveness at preventing COVID-19 was launched after promising results in lab tests and people with a SARS-CoV-2 infection.
The Phase 2 trial is not definitive, but it comes as vaccine access is severely restricted.
Daily squirts of a safe, over-the-counter allergy nasal spray may prevent COVID-19 infections from taking hold, according to results published Tuesday in JAMA Internal Medicine. In a mid-staged trial, the spray appeared to reduce infections by promising 67 percent, though a larger trial will need to confirm that robust efficacy.
The trial was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2 trial conducted by researchers at Germany’s Saarland University between March 2023 and July 2024. The study included 450 healthy adults, about half of whom (227) spritzed their noses three times a day with the generic antihistamine nasal spray, azelastine, which can be purchased over the counter in the US. The placebo, meanwhile, was a spray with an identical composition except for the absence of the antihistamine. The two groups had similar mixes of previous COVID-19 vaccination and infection statuses.
After about 56 days of frequent mistings, only five people using the allergy spray (2.2 percent) caught a SARS-CoV-2 infection, while 15 people using a placebo (6.7 percent) got the pandemic infection. That 4.5 percentage-point drop represents a 67 percent reduction in COVID-19 cases, though the numbers here are small. Still, the researchers noted that the five people using the allergy spray who contracted COVID-19 took more time to get the infection than the 15 in the placebo group (31 days versus 19.5). This could hint that the spray held off some infections from exposures early in the trial. And when the allergy spray users did get COVID-19, they were positive on a rapid antigen test for less time than those infected in the placebo group (3.4 days versus 5.1 days), suggesting they cleared the virus a bit faster.
Intriguingly, people using the allergy spray also had fewer respiratory infections overall compared with those in the placebo group (21 infections versus 49 infections). This was particularly the case for rhinovirus infections, the cause of the common cold. These findings are backed by several earlier studies suggesting that azelastine can fight off various viruses that try to invade our noses. Overall, the findings suggest that the allergy spray may protect against COVID-19 using a general antiviral mechanism that can guard against other respiratory viruses. But what that mechanism might be on the mucus membrane of the nose is unclear for now. {read}
from the study: The use of azelastine nasal spray may help to reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infections.
This duration was selected to encompass multiple incubation periods of circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants and to enable the detection of infections occurring under clinical conditions.13 In case of acute respiratory symptoms, confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, or knowledge/suspicion of close contact with a SARS-CoV-2-infected person, 1 puff of the nasal spray per nostril was applied 5 times daily over a period of 3 days.
Sam! Azelastine has gone OTC! (This is actually a bit distressing for me personally because I've been taking it daily for 7 years and the current OTC price is quadruple my insurance Rx copay and last time this happened with one of my meds, either the pharmacy or the insurance wouldn't honor the Rx price for some reason. BUT it's good news for availability and way cheaper —more than 50% decrease— for people without insurance!) There's currently only one brand (Astepro) so hopefully the price will come down when generics are available. And now you don't have to go to a doctor next time you want it 😄
I saw and I got VERY excited when I found out! Although it is missing a component that made it non-OTC in the first place, so possibly you want to talk to your doc and see about staying on the prescription stuff. Next time I'm sick I'm going to beeline for the OTC version and see if it helps!
The active ingredient in a common over-the-counter allergy spray may do more than ease hay fever symptoms. A new clinical trial found azelas
The active ingredient in a common over-the-counter allergy spray may do more than ease hay fever symptoms. A new clinical trial found azelastine cut COVID-19 infections by 70%, hinting at a cheap, accessible way to add protection alongside vaccines.
A Phase 2, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial led by researchers from Saarland University in Germany has found that a widely used over-the-counter (OTC) anti-allergy nasal spray containing azelastine not only significantly reduced the likelihood of people being infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, but it also lowered the incidence of infections with the common cold.
