British Scientists Develop Nasal Spray to Help Cut Covid Risks

Researchers at Aalborg University screen and analyze positive coronavirus samples for the virus variant cluster B117 from the United Kingdom, in Aalborg, Denmark, Jan. 15, 2021. (AFP Photo)
Researchers at Aalborg University screen and analyze positive coronavirus samples for the virus variant cluster B117 from the United Kingdom, in Aalborg, Denmark, Jan. 15, 2021. (AFP Photo)
TT
20

British Scientists Develop Nasal Spray to Help Cut Covid Risks

Researchers at Aalborg University screen and analyze positive coronavirus samples for the virus variant cluster B117 from the United Kingdom, in Aalborg, Denmark, Jan. 15, 2021. (AFP Photo)
Researchers at Aalborg University screen and analyze positive coronavirus samples for the virus variant cluster B117 from the United Kingdom, in Aalborg, Denmark, Jan. 15, 2021. (AFP Photo)

British scientists have developed an anti-viral nasal spray that dramatically cuts the chance of catching Covid. Two pumps in each nostril protect for up to eight hours, say its inventors. They believe the spray, pHOXWELL, could play a vital role in providing more protection for vulnerable patients in hospitals and care homes – and encourage workers to return to the office, The Daily Mail reported.

NHS heart surgeon and entrepreneur Professor Rakesh Uppal, chairman of Raphael Labs, the firm behind the invention, said it was "a significant breakthrough", adding that "we now have an effective tool, previously missing, to fight this pandemic. Vaccination, while absolutely essential, is not 100 percent effective and it is still possible to become infected by and transmit the virus that causes Covid-19."

He said the spray offered extra protection on top of vaccines and personal protection equipment (PPE) because it inhibited this virus, Sars-CoV-2, from infecting the mucus membrane in the nose – the main entry point to the body.
The spray was trialed on more than 600 unvaccinated health workers in India at the peak of its early summer wave. Those who received pHOXWELL were two-thirds less likely to become infected with Covid over a 45-day period than colleagues given a dummy spray.

The main aim is to help protect millions of people in developing countries who have been unable to get a Covid vaccine. The spray is easy to transport and store, being stable at room temperature. But it could also benefit people who have been jabbed – as vaccination does not provide perfect protection from infection.

Oxford University chemist Professor Angela Russell, who is one of pHOXWELL's inventors, said: "We think something like the spray could help us get the country back on its feet."

People would be able to come together in enclosed spaces with more confidence. You could see having the spray in your bag as common as having pills like paracetamol in case you get a headache.

Laboratory studies found the spray – which contains an active substance that is lethal to certain viruses but otherwise harmless – killed Sars-CoV-2 in 30 seconds. This prevents it from getting beyond mucus in the nose and thus into the body. It was also active against flu, killing it within five minutes.



Letter Written Onboard the Titanic before It Sank Sells for Almost $400,000 at Auction

 This undated handout picture provided by the auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son, England, shows a lettercard, penned by one of the Titanic's most well-known survivors from onboard the ship days before it sank, which has sold for 300,000 pounds ($399,000) at auction. (Henry Aldridge & Son via AP)
This undated handout picture provided by the auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son, England, shows a lettercard, penned by one of the Titanic's most well-known survivors from onboard the ship days before it sank, which has sold for 300,000 pounds ($399,000) at auction. (Henry Aldridge & Son via AP)
TT
20

Letter Written Onboard the Titanic before It Sank Sells for Almost $400,000 at Auction

 This undated handout picture provided by the auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son, England, shows a lettercard, penned by one of the Titanic's most well-known survivors from onboard the ship days before it sank, which has sold for 300,000 pounds ($399,000) at auction. (Henry Aldridge & Son via AP)
This undated handout picture provided by the auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son, England, shows a lettercard, penned by one of the Titanic's most well-known survivors from onboard the ship days before it sank, which has sold for 300,000 pounds ($399,000) at auction. (Henry Aldridge & Son via AP)

A lettercard penned by one of the Titanic's most well-known survivors from onboard the ship, days before it sank, has sold for 300,000 pounds ($399,000) at auction.

In the note, written to the seller's great-uncle on April 10, 1912, first-class passenger Archibald Gracie wrote of the ill-fated steamship: “It is a fine ship but I shall await my journeys end before I pass judgment on her.”

The letter was sold to a private collector from the United States on Saturday, according to auction house Henry Aldridge & Son in Wiltshire, England. The hammer price far exceeded the initial estimate price of 60,000 pounds.

The letter is believed to be the sole example in existence from Gracie from onboard the Titanic, which sank off Newfoundland after hitting an iceberg, killing about 1,500 people on its maiden voyage.

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge described it as an “exceptional museum grade piece.”

Gracie, who jumped from the ship and managed to scramble onto an overturned collapsible boat, was rescued by other passengers onboard a lifeboat and was taken to the R.M.S. Carpathia. He went on to write “The Truth about the Titanic,” an account of his experiences, when he returned to New York City.

Gracie boarded the Titanic in Southampton on April 10, 1912, and was assigned first-class cabin C51. His book is seen as one of the most detailed accounts of the events of the night the ship sank, Aldridge said.

Gracie did not fully recover from the hypothermia he suffered, and died of complications from diabetes in late 1912.