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Two medical colloidal silver preparations were used, one called Collargol, and one called Protargol. The latter was apparently a diluted preparation.

The study showed a 700 times reduction in the concentration of viral particles when Protargol was applied, and a whopping 11,000 times reduction in viral particles when the more highly concentrated Collargol was applied.

Silver Inactivates Herpes Simplex Type I and II Viruses

A study conducted in 1972 at Department of Microbiology, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan demonstrated that the Herpes Simplex Virus types I and II were totally inactivated by low concentrations of silver nitrate, which is a more caustic, chemical form of silver.

According to the study, silver nitrate caused so much damage to the viruses, they simply could no longer cause infection.

EPA Approves Use of Colloidal Silver
Spray Disinfectant that Kills Viruses on Surfaces

Moving forward to recent years, even the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has now approved silver for certain antiviral purposes.

As reported by the Silver Institute (a group which keeps silver investors appraised of all of the new uses for silver in business and industry), the EPA has recently approved the use of a product called Axen30, a liquid spray disinfectant similar to colloidal silver, for use in child day-care centres, preschools, schools, gymnasiums and children’s activity centres.

Axen30 is a dilute formula consisting of 30 ppm silver used as a spray disinfectant. But here’s the interesting part:

The EPA-approved advertising claims for Axen30 include a 30-second kill time and a 24-hour residual kill time on standard indicator bacteria, a two-minute kill time on the resistant bacteria MRSE and VRE, a 10-minute kill time on fungi, a 30-second kill time on HIV Type I, and a 10-minute kill time on other viruses.

Now that’s amazing – a proven 30-second kill time against HIV (i.e., Human Immunodeficiency Virus, aka the AIDS virus), and a ten minute kill time against other viruses!

Silver Compound in Countertops Eliminates SARS Virus

One of the most feared viruses now being studied by scientists is the SARS coronavirus – a upper respiratory virus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome, leading to death in a large number of cases.

It has been found that while SARS spreads through the usual routes, such as the airborne route caused by coughing and sneezing. But a large percentage of infections by this virus are caused when the virus simply lands on a countertop and sits there, awaiting someone to come by and touch that countertop, then touch the virus to their eyes, ears, nose or mouth.

Perstorp, a Swedish manufacturing company based in Italy, manufactures a special polymer from which countertops are made. What makes the Perstorp countertop unique is that extremely tiny nano-silver particles are impregnated into the polymer.

Upon human contact, the nano-silver impregnated polymer begins emitting silver ions. This unique silver ion-emitting polymer was developed for use with products such as toilet seats, door knobs, and other common contact surfaces.

According to news reports, the compound was successfully tested by the Chinese Centre for Disease Control against SARS, which has a particular interest in public safety due to the numerous SARS virus outbreaks of the past few years in China.

Zhang Panhe, professor at the Academy of Military Medical Sciences in China, recently stated, “We tested the compound against a four-hour, eight-hour, and 24-hour exposure period and found no surviving SARS virus upon 24 hours of exposure to the polymer…”

In other words, when the polymer was purposely contaminated by the SARS virus, it began killing the virus within four hours, and had killed all SARS viruses on the surface within 24 hours.

This special silver-impregnated polymer is now in use in many hospitals, laboratories and medical research facilities throughout China.

What’s more, many variants of silver-impregnated polymers are being used in similar medical-related facilities around the world, in order to help stop the spread of potentially deadly bacterial, fungal and viral pathogens.

Monkeypox Virus Inhibited by Silver Nanoparticles

Even some of the most exotic viruses have been demonstrated to be sensitive to silver.

According to a study published in volume 3, number 4, April 2008 edition of Nanoscale Research Letters, very small silver particles (10 nm in size) significantly inhibited the infectivity of the Monkeypox virus.

The study was conducted in conjunction with the Applied Biotechnology Branch, Human Effectiveness Directorate of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.

The study’s authors concluded, “These results demonstrate that silver-based nanoparticles of approximately 10 nm inhibit Monkey Pox Virus infection in vitro, supporting their potential use as an anti-viral therapeutic.”

According to Wikipedia.com, monkey pox virus is usually transmitted to humans from rodents, pets, and primates through contact with the animal’s blood or through a bite. Its symptoms can be difficult to distinguish clinically from smallpox (to which it is closely related) and chickenpox (to which it is not related).

What this demonstrates is that very tiny micro-particles of silver, known as nano-silver, are even effective against exotic viruses such as those coming from animals! If that doesn’t put you in mind of the recent “Swine Flu” scare, in which the infectious agent was shown to be a hybrid of swine, bird and human viral parts, I don’t know what will.

Silver Prevents Replication of Hepatitis B Virus

In a recent study conducted by scientists at the University of Hong Kong, it was demonstrated in vitro (i.e., in the test tube) that very tiny silver particles have the ability to interact with viral DNA in such a way as to prevent replication, whether the virus was inside the host cells (i.e., inside human cells, where viruses would normally replicate) or outside the host cells.

This is especially important, because it implies that silver can, not only prevent viruses from infecting cells, but can also stop cells that are already virally infected from spreading the infection.

According to a research abstract from the University of Hong Kong, the scientists examining the action of silver particles on the Hepatitis B virus “hypothesise that the direct interaction between these nanoparticles and HBV double-stranded DNA or viral particles is responsible for their antiviral mechanism.”

The scientists point out that this only demonstrates the effectiveness of very tiny silver particles against the HBV (i.e., hepatitis B virus), and not necessarily other viruses. Nevertheless, once again we have a study demonstrating conclusively that very tiny particles of silver have the ability to interfere with viruses, preventing them from interacting with human cells and causing infections.

According to a news article about this study, the researchers discovered that

“… ultra-tiny silver particles could reduce the extracellular DNA formation of HBVs by over 50 percent, and could check their intracellular RNA formation, too.

‘Silver nano-particles have special properties such as larger active surface and porosity so that they can easily bind with small molecules,’ China’s XINHUA news agency quoted Lu as saying, referring to a hypothetical explanation they had put forward on the new antiviral mechanism.

‘The finding provides a new direction for developing new anti-HBV drugs, with nano-particles used as drug carrier to enhance the antiviral efficacy while minimising the undesirable side effects,’ Lu told a press conference Monday.

The young researcher said there are currently only two kinds of drugs approved for treating chronic HBV infection, namely immunomodulators and nucleoside analogues. But their uses are affected by side effects and drug-resistant mutations.

Hepatitis B is one of the worst killers as it chronically infects over 400 million people worldwide, with certain developing countries and regions hit hardest.

Lu said silver nano-particles have an additional distinct advantage. It is unlikely that HBV can become resistant to silver nano-particles because the interaction is determined by the physiochemical properties of the tiny particles.”