WASHINGTON--  December 24, 2020 -- Today, a consortium of 15 doctors, nurses and other public health professionals petitioned the Centers for Disease Control to issue Guidance calling on: Americans to use nasal sprays to combat the COVID-19 pandemic; and doctors to use them in treating COVID-19 patients.

The petition has also been placed on Change.org and the medical professionals are seeking support for it from all Americans: https://www.change.org/cdcguidance

The petition in particular calls on CDC to tell Americans to use nasal sprays as part of a layered defense against COVID-19. “You wash your hands; you should wash your nose, too. You wear a mask and social distance; you should do that and use a nasal spray,” said Dr. Alonzo Jones, one of the petitioners, and an inventor of one of the studied nasal sprays.

“We have more data supporting the use of nasal sprays against COVID-19 than we had supporting the use of masks and social distancing when CDC told Americans to do those things,” Dr. Mark Cannon, another petitioner, said. “Nasal sprays are inexpensive, non-invasive, safe, and you can get them off-the-shelf at your local store. It’s pure commonsense,” Cannon added.

“We have data showing that certain nasal sprays don’t just wash away the virus. Certain sprays actually block, deactivate and/or kill the virus,” said Dr. Gustavo Ferrer, a respiratory illness expert who has conducted research on the use of nasal sprays to combat COVID-19, and is among the petitioners.

As a result, the petition calls specifically for CDC Guidance to focus on the use of nasal sprays that contain Xylitol and grapefruit seed extract. Recent studies have found that these natural components used together are antiviral (they block SARS-CoV-2 adhesion to the nasal membrane) and virucidal (they kill or deactivate the virus). One such spray, Xlear, is currently widely available in the US. Xlear has been used by millions of people worldwide, over twenty-plus years, without any adverse effects reported.

Additionally, a new, small clinical study found Xlear lessens the severity and shortens the duration of COVID-19 illnesses, and reduces the risk of further transmission, which is why the petition calls for guidance to doctors to use it as an adjunct to current treatments.