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Saline helps protect against coronavirus

The results of a study conducted by employees of the pulmonology department of the School of Medicine at Boston University (USA) are published in American Journal of Infection Control.

In a situation where there are more and more cases of coronavirus infection among medical workers who often lack disposable protective equipment, the researchers decided to find out whether it is possible to increase the effectiveness of surgical and tissue masks, as well as N95 respirators using simple and affordable methods. A previous study showed that if you wet the filter layer of the surgical mask in saline and then dry, it begins to better filter out particles of different strains of the influenza virus.

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Scientists have conducted a series of similar experiments using common materials such as moisture-absorbing kitchen paper towels, single-layer roll paper towels used in medical facilities, and the middle filter layer of a three-layer surgical mask. The researchers soaked these materials in saline (30 grams of sodium chloride per hundred milliliters of distilled water), dried them, and then sprayed onto their surface a drop of liquid containing luminous nanoparticles, comparable in size to particles of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (70–90 nanometers in diameter).

It turned out that saline-treated paper materials filter out viral particles much better than even the filter layer of a surgical mask that has not undergone such treatment. This effect is achieved due to the fact that the viral particles actually get stuck in the crystal lattice of sodium chloride molecules on the surface of the paper. Researchers believe that using saline-treated pieces of paper towel can completely improve the protective properties of fabric masks and extend the life of disposable surgical masks.

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