A new inhalation treatment for COVID-19 patients has won approval for a clinical trial involving humans, Rigshospitalet (Copenhagen University Hospital), one of largest hospitals in Denmark, said in a press release on Monday. Developed by Danish researchers, the treatment is based on the idea of Thomas Bjarnsholt, professor at the Department of Clinical Microbiology at Rigshospitalet. "It is a treatment where you inhale a mild acid solution, which gives the immune system a hand in fighting infections in the respiratory tract from bacteria or viruses," said Bjarnsholt in the press release. Initially targeted at patients admitted with COVID-19, there is also hope that it could also become "a game-changer in the treatment of other types of respiratory infections." "The ambition is that it should also be able to fight other infections such as pneumonia, influenza and tuberculosis. All three are diseases that millions of people die of every year worldwide," said Bjarnsholt. The patent for the technology used in the treatment is held by the Norwegian company SoftOx Solutions, which collaborated in the research after participating as providers of a stable acid solution to treat wounds in a previous study. "The idea for the treatment comes from our previous research into the ability of acid solutions to fight infections in wounds. It is the same idea which has now been refined and converted into inhalation treatment for fighting infections in the airways," Bjarnsholt said. In the past 24 hours, the Danish public health agency Statens Serum Institute (SSI) registered 564 new COVID-19 infections and three deaths, bringing the national totals to 364,464 cases and 2,671 deaths. The SSI reported that 76.1 percent of the Danish population, or 4,462,629 people, have already started the vaccination progress, and 74.8 percent have been fully vaccinated. — Agencies
