London : An active substance found in insect-killing drugs may provide protection against the coronavirus. This has been claimed in a preliminary study conducted by Britain’s Defense Laboratory. Scientists at the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) said in a statement that pesticides such as mosi-guard (mosquito repellent) had antiviral features found in the active substance, citriodiol.
According to unpublished results of the study, “a decrease in SARS-COV-2 was observed by mixing virus suspension with mosi guard spray or selected ingredient.” However, it is not clear whether this spray will be able to make any difference, apart from repeated hand washing and the use of alcohol-made hand sanitizer, as a preventive measure.
Citriodiol is found from the leaves and twigs of Eucalyptus citriodora trees and is said to be a natural alternative to deet which is another substance used in insect killing drugs. Military experts adopted two methods of experimentation. The first method assessed the antiviral activity of the product when it was applied directly to the virus as a drop of fluid. At the same time, in another way, the product was assessed by applying it to a synthetic skin made of latex.
One minute fluid suspension test in the study showed that SARS-COV-2 acts antiviral against the England-2 isolate in the mosi guard if the corona virus is added to the fluid phase. The same thing came out in a study done on latex. Scientists said that they are sharing their preliminary results in the hope that more research will be done on it.