Researchers at Saarland University in Germany headed a clinical trial that found a nasal spray could reduce the risk of coronavirus infection by two-thirds.<\/p>\n
The phase 2 study<\/a>, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, ran from March 2023 to July 2024 at Saarland University Hospital.<\/p>\n NEW COVID VARIANT MAY CAUSE ‘RAZOR BLADE THROAT’ \u2014 HERE’S WHAT TO KNOW<\/a><\/p>\n The 450 healthy adult participants were randomly assigned to receive either the azelastine nasal spray or a placebo, three times per day for 56 days.<\/p>\n The researchers conducted SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen testing twice a week to diagnose infection. People who had symptoms but received negative antigen test results underwent multiple PCR tests for respiratory viruses.<\/a><\/p>\n Azelastine nasal spray could potentially delay COVID-19 infection, according to new research. (iStock)<\/p>\n Among the 227 individuals who received the azelastine nasal spray, rates of confirmed COVID infection were “significantly lower” at 2.2%, compared with 6.7% for the placebo group.<\/p>\n CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER<\/a><\/p>\n The researchers also noted an increase in the period before infection for the people taking azelastine. In these patients, the medication was linked to a lower rate of PCR-confirmed symptomatic infections and fewer confirmed rhinovirus infections (the primary cause of the common cold<\/a>).<\/p>\n Azelastine nasal spray may also help prevent other respiratory viruses, the researchers found. (iStock)<\/p>\n “In this single-center trial, azelastine nasal spray<\/a> was associated with reduced risk of SARS-CoV-2 respiratory infections,” the researchers wrote.<\/p>\n Azelastine has been available as an over-the-counter treatment for hay fever, according to a press release from Saarland University, and has previously been suggested to have an anti-viral effect against COVID and other respiratory viruses<\/a>.<\/p>\n CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/p>\n Lead trial researcher Professor Robert Bals, director of the Department of Internal Medicine at Saarland University Medical Center, commented in a statement that the trial has demonstrated azelastine\u2019s impact in a “real-world setting.”<\/p>\n Azelastine led to a reduction in the number of PCR-confirmed symptomatic infections, according to the study. (iStock)<\/p>\n “Azelastine nasal spray could provide an additional, easily accessible prophylactic to complement existing protective measures, especially for vulnerable groups, during periods of high infection rates<\/a> or before traveling,” he went on.<\/p>\n For more Health articles, visit\u00a0<\/a>www.foxnews.com\/health<\/a><\/p>\n “Our results highlight the need for larger, multicenter trials to continue exploring the use of azelastine nasal sprays as an on-demand preventive treatment, and to examine its potential effectiveness against other respiratory pathogens.”<\/p>\n Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers for comment.<\/p>\n Angelica Stabile is a lifestyle reporter for Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! A new study has discovered another way to potentially prevent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":118999,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[64,63,84152,7273,137,1625,14262,490,5418,84150,84151,55501],"class_list":{"0":"post-118998","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cold-and-flu","11":"tag-coronavirus","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-lifestyle","14":"tag-medical-research","15":"tag-medication","16":"tag-medications","17":"tag-respiratory-health","18":"tag-sinuses-ent","19":"tag-viruses"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Woman](\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1200\/675\/nasal-spray-covid-19-v2.jpg?ve=1&tl=1\")
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