Researchers from North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill may have found a way to treat COVID-19 using a form of inhalation therapy.
The process involves developing cells that mimic the makeup of cells found in the lungs, which users take in using a small inhalation therapy device. If the virus that causes COVID-19 enters the body, it will bond with the fake cells, known as nanodecoys, where it's prevented from replicating itself. The body's immune system can then take over to clear the now-idle virus.
According to a news release, researchers have done several tests that involved inserting a virus similar to COVID-19 into mice and monkeys. They found the inhalation therapy process was successful in quickly clearing the virus.
Dr. Ke Cheng is a co-author of the research.
He says that by focusing on the body's defenses rather than a potentially mutating virus, there is a greater potential to develop a useful long-term therapy.