LONG COVID , POTENCIAL NUEVO TRATAMIENTO DESDE JAPÓN . La Terapia Abrasiva Epifaríngea Puede Ser Eficaz Para Mejorar los Síntomas del Tracto Respiratorio Superior en Pacientes con COVID PROLONGADO .

A Potential Novel Treatment for Chronic Cough in Long COVID Patients: Clearance of Epipharyngeal Residual SARS-CoV-2 Spike RNA by Epipharyngeal Abrasive Therapy .

A major target of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the epipharyngeal mucosa .

Epipharyngeal abrasive therapy (EAT) is a Japanese treatment for chronic epipharyngitis .

EAT is a treatment for chronic epipharyngitis in Japan that involves applying zinc chloride as an anti-inflammatory agent to the epipharyngeal mucosa. Here, we present a case of a 21-year-old man with chronic coughing that persisted for four months after a diagnosis of mild coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), who was treated by EAT .

We diagnosed chronic epipharyngitis as the cause of the chronic cough after the SARS-CoV-2 infection. SARS-CoV-2 spike RNA had persisted in the epipharyngeal mucosa of this Long COVID patient .

 EAT was performed once a week for three months, which eliminated residual SARS-CoV-2 RNA and reduced epipharyngeal inflammation .

 Moreover, a reduction in the expression of proinflammatory cytokines was found by histopathological examination .

We speculate that the virus was excreted with the drainage induced by EAT, which stopped the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines .

This case study suggests that EAT is a useful treatment for chronic epipharyngitis involving long COVID . ...