Overview

• The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled CONTAIN trial enrolled 450 mostly healthy adults who used one puff per nostril three times daily with regular testing.
• Participants using azelastine had fewer confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections, fewer symptomatic cases, and a lower incidence of other respiratory infections, including rhinovirus.
• Infected azelastine users took longer to test positive and were positive for fewer days than those on placebo, according to the study published in JAMA Internal Medicine.
• The spray was generally well tolerated, with only two serious adverse events reported and neither attributed to the treatment.
• Researchers and independent experts cautioned that the single-center design, small number of events, and young participant pool limit generalizability, calling for larger multicenter trials and stressing that the spray should not replace vaccination.