Can Neosporin Protect You From Getting COVID-19?

For years, researchers have been working on vaccines that aim to prevent viral infections by strengthening immune defenses at viruses’ doorway to the body: the nose.

A small study recently published in PNAS presents a similar, if lower-tech, idea. Coating the inside of the nose with the over-the-counter antibiotic ointment Neosporin seems to trigger an immune response that may help the body repel respiratory viruses like those that cause COVID-19 and the flu, the study suggests.