Potential use of ozone in SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19

ABSTRACT

The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2; provisionally named 2019 novel coronavirus or 2019-nCoV) disease (COVID-19) in China at the end of 2019 has caused a large global outbreak and is a major public health issue. As of March 9 th, 2020, data from the World Health Organization (WHO) have shown that confirmed cases surpassed 112,000 and have been identified in 112 countries/regions, with 3,893 deaths. On January 30th 2020, the WHO declared COVID-19 as the sixth public health emergency of international concern. The scope of this paper is to review the potential use of ozone therapy that could serves as a complementary therapy in the management of COVID-19. Evidence acquisition terms (ozone, SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19) was searched in the scientific data bases. Ozone can be used in the disinfection of viral contaminated environments. Its maximum anti-viral efficacy requires a short period of high humidity (>90% relative humidity) after the attainment of peak ozone gas concentration (20 ­ 25 ppm, 39-49 mg/m3 ). As a gas it can penetrate all areas within a room, including crevices, fixtures, fabrics, hospital room, public transport, hotel room, cruise liner cabin, office, etc. and under surfaces of furniture, much more efficiently than manually applied liquid sprays and aerosols. The environment to be treated must be free of people and animals due to the relative toxicity of ozone via inhalation. Systemic ozone therapy can be potentially useful in SARS-CoV-2. The rationale and mechanism of action has already been proven clinically in other viral infections and has been shown to be highly effective in research studies. The mechanism of action will be by 1) The induction of adaptation to oxidative stress, hence a re-equilibration of the cellular redox state. 2) The induction of IFN-gamma and proinflammatory cytokines. 3) The increase of blood flow and tissue oxygenation to vital organs. 4) It has the potential actions to act as an auto-vaccine when administered in form of minor autohemotherapy. The recommended routes of administration are Major Autohemotherapy (MAH), Ozonized Saline Solution (O3SS), Extracorporeal Blood Oxygenation-Ozonation (EBOO), and a variant of the Minor Autohemotherapy (MiAH). Clinical protocol should be adhered to with the standard doses and procedures as defined in the Madrid Declaration of Ozone Therapy. At least three clinical trials using major autohemotherapy are currently being undertaken in China and more clinical trials and data are needed to confirm the efficacy of ozone therapy as a complementary therapy in COVID-19 diseases. It is a complementary therapy because while the infected patient will continue to be treated with allopathic medicine, at the same time the patient will receive the treatment that this paper is proposing.(AU)