Corona Virus (Covid) Pandemic
Viruses represent one of the leading causes of disease and death worldwide. The Covid-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2). The pandemic has caused an unprecedented global social and economic disruption, including the largest global recession since the Great Depression. Can colloidal nano silver help with this pandemic?
Vaccination
The current recourse to defend ourselves against virus is vaccination. Vaccines contain the same germs that cause disease. (For example, measles vaccine contains measles virus, and Hib vaccine contains Hib bacteria.) The virus has either been killed or weakened to the point that they don’t make you sick. Some vaccines contain only a part of the disease germ. A vaccine stimulates your immune system to produce antibodies, exactly like it would if you were exposed to the disease.
When you are vaccinated, you develop immunity to that disease, without having to get the disease first. Vaccine stimulates the body’s immune system to recognize the agent as foreign, destroy it, and “remember” it. In this way, the immune system can more easily recognize and destroy any of these microorganisms in future encounters.
Colloidal Nano Silver and Virus
Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been widely studied as an antimicrobial agent. Many of the studies conducted were mainly to investigate the effects of silver against bacteria. However there are also several studies that were done to investigate the effects of silver, specifically against virus.
Various Colloidal Silver Research Efforts
In a research conducted by Lei Lu et.al., it was found that silver nanoparticles could inhibit the in vitro production of Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) RNA and extracellular virions. They hypothesize that the direct interaction between silver nanoparticles and HBV double-stranded DNA or viral particles is responsible for their antiviral mechanism. Their research report is titled Silver Nanoparticles Inhibit Hepatitis B Virus Replication and is published in the Journal of Antiviral Therapies 2008;13(2):253-62.
Humberto H Lara, et.al, undertook another study to investigate the mode of antiviral action of silver nanoparticles against HIV-1. Their results reveal, for the first time, that silver nanoparticles exert anti-HIV activity at an early stage of viral replication, most likely as a virucidal agent or viral entry inhibitor. They also found that there were no significant difference in the antiviral activities of silver nanoparticles against the different drug-resistant strains, which means, new HIV virus strains cannot develop resistance against silver. They also found that silver actually binds with the viral protein and denaturize it thus disabling its function. Their study, titled Mode of Antiviral Action of Silver Nanoparticles against HIV-1 is published in the Journal of Nanobiotechnology 2010; 8: 1.
In a research article titled Viral Pathogens and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome: Oligodynamic Ag+ for Direct Immune Intervention, published in the Journal of Nutritional & Environmental Medicine, Volume 13, 2003 – Issue 2, the author mentions that efficacy against the SARS-related coronavirus may be enhanced when nebulized Ag+ is inhaled. The author also says that the only known mechanism of resistance also appears to play no role notwithstanding the mutability of the coronavirus. Therefore no functional barrier to the virotoxic effects of oligodynamic Ag+ may be expected regardless of the rapidity or variety of mutations. The author aslo mentions that there is no known toxicity for Oligodynamic Ag+ in humans.
In a review article titled Silver Nanoparticles as Potential Antiviral Agents , published in Molecules 2011 Oct; 16(10): 8894–8918, the researchers have summarized the effects of silver against various types of viruses which includes Retroviridae (HIV), Herpesviridae (Herpes), Paramyxoviridae (Respiratory Syncytial Virus), Hepadnaviridae (Hepatitis B), Orthomyxoviridae (Influenza), Poxviridae (Monkeypox) and Arenaviridae (Tacaribe).
Can Colloidal Silver Kill Coronavirus (Covid)?
From the various research, it is found that silver can interact with the virus surface protein and alter its shape thus disabling its binding function to host cell. In addition to this, silver can also penetrate the cell walls of the virus, and interact with its genome (DNA and RNA) and prevent it from replicating. By inhibiting the binding and replicating functions of a virus, it is literally destroyed and can’t exert any harmful effects.
Colloidal silver does have a lot of potential as a natural anti-viral agent. However, proper clinical research needs to be undertaken to determine the benefits of colloidal nano silver.
Disclaimer – This article does not offer any medical advise. Readers are always advised to consult a qualified medical professional for medical advise.
