Antiviral chewing gum to reduce influenza and herpes simplex virus transmission

a year ago

Infectious diseases like coronavirus, H1N1, SARS, Ebola, Zika, and H5N1 pose significant global health and economic threats.
Seasonal influenza causes substantial disease burden and economic losses, exceeding $11.2 billion annually in the U.S.
HSV-1 infects over two-thirds of the global population and is a leading cause of infectious blindness in Western countries.
Low vaccination rates and lack of HSV vaccines highlight the need for new approaches targeting viral transmission sites.
Researchers developed a chewing gum from lablab beans containing antiviral protein FRIL to neutralize HSV and influenza viruses.
The gum reduced viral loads by over 95%, similar to results seen in SARS-CoV-2 studies.
The gum was prepared as a clinical-grade drug product and found to be safe for human use.
Researchers are exploring lablab bean powder to combat bird flu (H5N1), which has affected 54 million birds recently.
Bean powder has previously shown effectiveness against H5N1 and H7N9, and is being tested in bird feed.
The study highlights the potential of FRIL protein in natural food products to prevent viral infection and transmission.

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