Background

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has upset health systems around the world and caused immeasurable losses and costs. Until a vaccine will become available, the recommended prevention measures remain physical distancing and enhanced hygiene.

Methods and findings

The proteic structure external to the virus is the main target that may eventually lead to reduce or block its replication in the upper airways. We developed a protocol based of repeated steam inhalation cycles aimed at reducing the risk of progression to full blown infection if performed soon after contagion. The protocol has been used in a single-center open label trial on ten infected asymptomatic or pauci-symptomatic health care professionals.

Conclusions

The promising results we obtained with this easily accessible, non-invasive and inexpensive procedure should prompt controlled trials.

中文翻译：

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SARS COVID-2 病毒的热灭活：蒸汽吸入是一种潜在的治疗方法吗？

背景

SARS-CoV-2 大流行的出现扰乱了世界各地的卫生系统，造成了无法估量的损失和成本。在疫苗问世之前，建议的预防措施仍然是保持身体距离和加强卫生。

方法和结果

病毒外部的蛋白质结构是可能最终导致减少或阻止其在上呼吸道复制的主要目标。我们开发了一种基于重复蒸汽吸入循环的方案，旨在降低在感染后不久进行全面感染的风险。该协议已用于对 10 名受感染的无症状或少症状医疗保健专业人员进行的单中心开放标签试验。

结论

我们通过这种易于访问、无创且廉价的程序获得的有希望的结果应该会促进对照试验。