Professor O’Donnell said addressing this knowledge gap “could enable selective therapeutic targeting that void damaging host membranes. We also suspect the membrane won’t be impacted by mutation of the virus, unlike spike proteins, so it would be a consistent target”.
What this means in practice is, should further trials show success, the treatment would be partially immune to the evolution of the virus.
In recent months the likes of Pfizer, Oxford-Astra Zenica, and Moderna have had to change their vaccines to deal with mutations in the COVID-19 virus.
Co-author of the study, Professor Richard Stanton added: “Our results suggest certain mouthwashes could play a role in limiting Covid-19 exposure in healthcare settings”.