“We have shown that UVA and UVB rays from the sun completely kill Sars-Cov-2 within a few tens of seconds”. This was stated by Mario Clerici, professor of General Pathology at the State University of Milan and scientific director of the Irccs of Milan Don Gnocchi Foundation, author, together with the research group of the National Institute of Astrophysics, of an all-Italian study published today in preprint .
“This study – explains Clerici to Adnkronos Salute – is essentially the continuation of a previous work that we had done last year when we saw that UVC rays, which are a component of the sun’s rays that do not reach the earth, killed Sars. -Cov-2 after a few seconds exposure. But the Uvc – Clerici reiterates – do not arrive on earth, so those data were important only from a certain point of view. Now, we have seen that also the Uva and Uvb which are the rays that reach the earth, tan and heat us, in a matter of tens of seconds they completely kill Sars-Cov-2. So – he underlines – we have exactly replicated the data on UVCs, however, this time demonstrating that all solar rays destroy the virus. And among other things – adds the immunologist – the time needed, for example when you are on the beach with the sun that is amplified by the glare on the sand or on the water, is even shorter. So on the beach – he affirmed to Clerici – 10-20 seconds of Uva and Uvb are really enough to completely kill the virus “.
“Our idea – explains the researcher – is that this, together with the ever higher percentage of vaccinated people, explains why we are overcoming the problem with the warm season”. So why did an avalanche of infections occur in Brazil during the summer, as well as in India? “First of all it must be said that the sun – underlines Clerici – is not the only element that justifies everything we observe. In India, religious festivals contributed with bathing in the Ganges and then there were monsoons, so there is it was all the haze of the sun’s rays due to the clouds. In Brazil we all know what happened – adds the immunologist – unfortunately they paid for the Bolsonaro management, because it is true that the sun’s rays are needed but also masks, vaccines and everything the rest”.
In any case, the experiments confirmed the effectiveness of the sun against Covid-19. “You can see in a visualization – says the immunologist – the effect of the sun’s rays on the virus: if you don’t expose it to the sun’s rays the virus infects the cells, if you expose it to the sun you kill it”.
A discovery that could have excellent applications in everyday life to sterilize objects and environments from the virus. “Last year’s data were important because they led to the development of devices that performed precisely this function but Uvc rays – recalls the scientist – are dangerous for the human skin, so you could not stay in the same room where they were applied. Uvb rays instead no, they are the rays that normally touch us when we go out in the sun, so this discovery has a much higher importance “. In short, if we put normal solar lamps in the buses could we solve a problem? “Yes. Apart from the fact that we will all come out more tanned and more beautiful, what these data suggest is just that.”
But let’s see how the experimental demonstration of this discovery came about. “The astrophysicists connected a machine that produces the different solar rays in a distinct way, so only grapes or UVBs or UVCs rather than ultraviolet – explains Clerici – then we put the machine under a hood, we took the lung cells and we threw on the virus. And the virus that has been exposed or not to the different components of the sun’s rays. At first – explains the immunologist – we used a maximum dose of virus, therefore much much higher than that which occurs in a subject with Covid. And then we used the dose present in a patient with severe Covid, to see if it could also have a potential clinical importance. And indeed it is: in a few seconds the amount of virus is inactivated, which is what in patients causes severe Covid “.