Scientists from the University of South Australia developed a new formulation to treat antimicrobial-resistant bacterial infections in diabetic foot ulcers. They found that the drug can also be used to kill the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, that is circulating in air conditioning systems.
Diabetic Foot Ulcer Drug Could Kill COVID-19 Virus Circulating in Air Conditioning Systems, UK Scientists Claim (PHOTO: Moffitt Cancer Center)
Foot Ulcer Drug Effective Against COVID-19
The researchers were testing the efficacy of the treatment for diabetic foot ulcers when they made the unexpected discovery that it can kill SARS-CoV-2, according to Australian Seniors News.
In their paper that was published in Applied Physics Letters, researchers claim that enhancing cold plasma ionized gas using peracetic acid gets rid of the bacteria in foot ulcers and substantially reduces SARS-CoV-2 viral loads by 84%. Lead researcher Dr. Endre Szili said that with some modifications it is still possible to completely eliminate the virus.
The new drug has not yet been tested for other variants of the virus, but researchers claim that it can be used to disinfect surfaces in hospitals and other buildings, and also in air conditioning systems.
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New Drug Could End Chronic Foot Ulcer
Since the drug was originally formulated to treat foot ulcers caused by diabetes, the team said that the findings of their study also hold promise to end the problem in chronic foot ulcers.
According to Mirage News, the technology using plasma combined with acetyl donor molecules (ADM) killed the resistant bacteria and golden staph. These results are very significant for diabetic patients suffering from foot ulcers that are hard to heal.
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