Indian researchers find a new way to combat Covid-19

A group of investigators from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M), Jadavpur University, and Northwestern University, US, performed a study to understand the transmission mechanism of the Covid-19 virus from the nose to the throat and the lower respiratory tract.

They used mathematical models to demonstrate the manner the viruses infecting the mucous lining of the respiratory tract disseminate when droplets reach the lungs, thereby causing serious illnesses. These findings have been published in the open-source journal, Frontiers in Physiology.

Prof Mahesh Panchagnula from the Department of Applied Mechanics at IIT Madras stated, "We investigated the last theory employing mathematical modeling of droplets traveling from the nose and throat to the deep lungs. This model demonstrated that pneumonia and other lung distress could initiate within 2.5 to 7 days following the first symptoms of a COVID-19 infection, and thus occurs when the infected mucous droplets are carried from the nose and throat to the lungs."

The study outcomes include two important lessons: drugs to manage sneezing and coughing can help prevent infected mucous droplets formation in the nose and the throat and their transmission into deep lungs.

Prof Mahesh said," A strategy that can control such droplet formation is administering cough syrups or expectorants, which would not only trim the spread to others but also prevent an extra source of self-aerosolized droplets which could be inhaled into the lower respiratory tract."

Their study also concluded that vaccination could help prevent the evolution of pneumonia and other serious lung diseases.