Can nasal irrigation with chlorine dioxide be considered as a potential alternative therapy for respiratory infectious diseases? The example of COVID-19

• Published in: BioScience Trends Vol. 16; no. 6; pp. 447 - 450
• Main Authors: Cao, Jing, Shi, Yirong, Wen, Min, Peng, Yuanyuan, Miao, Qiqi, Liu, Xiaoning, Zheng, Mingbin, Asakawa, Tetsuya, Lu, Hongzhou
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan International Research and Cooperation Association for Bio & Socio-Sciences Advancement 25-12-2022
• Subjects: Chlorine Compounds - pharmacology; Chlorine Compounds - therapeutic use; chlorine dioxide (ClO2); Communicable Diseases; COVID-19; Humans; nasal irrigation; Nasal Lavage; Oxides - therapeutic use; respiratory infectious diseases; SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; chlorine dioxide (ClO2); SARS-CoV-2; nasal irrigation; respiratory infectious diseases
• ISSN: 1881-7815; 1881-7823
• DOI: 10.5582/bst.2022.01495

Chlorine dioxide (ClO2) is a high-level disinfectant that is safe and widely used for sterilization. Due to the limitations on preparing a stable solution, direct use of ClO2 in the human body is limited. Nasal irrigation is an alternative therapy used to treat respiratory infectious diseases. This study briefly summarizes the available evidence regarding the safety/efficacy of directly using ClO2 on the human body as well as the approach of nasal irrigation to treat COVID-19. Based on the available information, as well as a preliminary experiment that comprehensively evaluated the efficacy and safety of ClO2, 25-50 ppm was deemed to be an appropriate concentration of ClO2 for nasal irrigation to treat COVID-19. This finding requires further verification. Nasal irrigation with ClO2 can be considered as a potential alternative therapy to treat respiratory infectious diseases, and COVID-19 in particular.