Can Silver fight Covid19?

We are in an uncertain situation with the coronavirus and COVID-19 disease. Globally, most of the countries are affected and many including India are under lockdown. The recent outbreak of an infectious Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has again highlighted the importance of personal hygiene in a country like India. In the current scenario, 'Prevention is better than cure' applies to each individual in India. One of the proven preventive tools is washing hands. The spread of this disease is intensifying with every passing day since the contagion spreads from person to person through small droplets when a person with COVID-19 coughs or exhales. (1) These droplets then land on objects and surfaces known as fomites, around the person. A normal person can catch COVID-19 infection by touching these objects or surfaces, then touching their eyes, nose, or mouth. Recent reports have also proven that the SARS-CoV-2 virus spreads because of aerosol and infected fomites. The virus remains viable and infectious in aerosols for hours and on surfaces up to days (2) To combat the spread of the disease (breaking the chain) and preventing infection to others, washing your hands is of prime importance which is the first gateway of the virus entering your body (after you touch your eyes, nose or mouth). In such a scenario Weinnovate Biosolutions Pvt. Ltd. has come up with a non-alcoholic aqueous-based Colloidal Silver solution uniquely made from its NanoAgCideTM technology for sanitizing hands and disinfecting environmental surfaces. Silver nanoparticles have shown antiviral efficacy against many deadly viruses viz. HIV, Hepatitis B, Herpes simplex virus, Influenza virus, etc (3). Recent reports have suggested the role of GSH capped-Ag2S NCs (Silver nanoclusters) in inhibiting the proliferation of Coronavirus by inhibiting the synthesis of viral negative-strand RNA and viral budding (4). Nakamura et.al suggests Ag NP-based materials will be able to prevent the contact infection of health care workers (HCWs), besides preventing patient infection (5). Thus colloidal silver can affect Covid -19: 1) Spread by blocking the RNA replication 2) Infectivity by blocking the surface glycoproteins Recent WHO reports regarding the spread of COVID-19 spread have ruled out the possibility of transmission through the air of this virus. The virus only spreads through respiratory droplets and contact with the person and surfaces (fomites) around him (2). Studies done on different surfaces have shown the viability and infectious nature of the virus in aerosols for hours and on surfaces for days. These surfaces are the prime source of spreading infections and if we can intervene at this stage it would positively affect in controlling the spread of the virus. With this background, the colloidal silver solution of Weinnovate Biosolutions Pvt. Ltd is synthesized from Green technology, free from hazardous chemicals, and has no risk of flammability compared to alcohol-based disinfectants. Further, the process of making colloidal silver is filed for an Indian Patent and a test license for making hand sanitizers and disinfectants has been granted. @Weinnovate Biosolutions Private Limited We have developed this solution and all the lab testing shave been already done. We have also received the test license and waiting for the manufacturing license. Preliminary work on synthesizing colloidal silver on a small scale and scale-up batch up to 5 liters have been conducted with reproducibility. We are aiming to manufacture primarily a minimum of 200 litres of colloidal silver solution per day with our manufacturing set up to cater to the demand of hand sanitization and disinfection. With our solution, we are positive to reduce the number of infections spread and helping India to be infection-free. Scope of work: The proposal aims in large scale production of Colloidal silver to be used in the different formulation for hand or surface disinfection to break the chain of COVID-19 virus spread This colloidal silver-based hand sanitizer developed at Weinnovate Biosolutions Pvt. Ltd. under the able hands of PI and other team members who have a wide experience in synthesizing Colloidal silver and other nanoparticles for diagnostic and therapeutic applications. The current alternatives in the market are alcohol-based hand sanitizers, which are effective but come with two major disadvantages, firstly they are highly inflammable making their production, transportation, and storage a risky affair and secondly they being alcohol-based they dehydrate the sting making it prone to secondary infections. Moreover, other disinfections solutions have harsh chemicals that will have dangerous consequences in the long run. Our solutions have the following advantages: Aqueous: Being aqueous colloidal silver does not dehydrate the skin, the production, transport, and storage does not require any special arrangements. Low cost: Colloidal Silver required is effectively cheaper than alcohol. Long term effect: Since colloidal silver possesses slow and sustained release of Ag+ ions the effect remains for the long term.