Cedars-Sinai Research Involving Five Critically Ill Patients is Encouraging and Warrants Further Investigation, Scientists Say
Ultraviolet light treatments introduced into the tracheas of five critically ill
COVID-19 patients appeared to be safe and associated with a reduction in the respiratory load of SARS-CoV-2—the virus responsible for COVID-19—in all but one patient, according to a study conducted by Cedars-Sinai.
The findings, published in the peer-reviewed journal
Advances in Therapy, were based on five days of 20-minute treatments with ultraviolet A (UVA) light using a catheter inserted into the patients' tracheas. Patients were followed for 30 days. The findings were based on four patients; the fifth patient had no detectable levels of SARS-CoV-2 at the study outset.