Chewing gum may soon play a surprising role in stopping the spread of flu and herpes by targeting viral transmission directly in the mouth.
By Paige Anderson, CRDH
Infectious diseases like the flu and herpes simplex virus (HSV) continue to pose serious public health challenges despite decades of research, outreach, and vaccination efforts. Flu vaccination rates remain stubbornly low in many parts of the U.S., and no vaccine currently exists for HSV, which affects more than half the U.S. population by age 50.
These viruses aren’t just inconvenient. They can lead to complications, missed work or school, and in some cases, systemic health issues that intersect with oral health. What if we could help control viral transmission with something as simple as chewing gum? That’s precisely what Dr. Henry Daniell of the University of Pennsylvania has in mind.
Antivirals in Chewing Gum to Fight COVID-19
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Daniell and researchers at Penn Dental Medicine developed an innovative antiviral chewing gum designed to reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission. The gum was made using biomolecules derived from lettuce and incorporated a protein known as ACE2, which binds to the coronavirus spike protein. By flooding the oral cavity with this decoy receptor, the gum effectively traps virus particles in the saliva, limiting their ability to infect host cells.
This early iteration showed promising results and has since entered clinical trials. While it was created in response to COVID-19, the underlying concept sparked a broader conversation: could chewing gum be a practical way to lower transmission of other viruses that spread through saliva?
A Broad Antiviral Strategy
The team recently published findings in Molecular Theory, which show great potential for building on this concept. The new gum uses a different active ingredient: FRIL (Flt3 Receptor Interacting Lectin), a viral trap protein derived from lablab beans. Unlike ACE2, which targets SARS-CoV-2 specifically, FRIL has the potential to act on a wider range of enveloped viruses.
FRIL is a carbohydrate-binding protein that targets complex-type N-glycans, which are sugar structures commonly found on the outer envelopes of viruses like influenza, herpes, and coronaviruses. These sugar structures are critical to how viruses enter host cells. FRIL binds to these glycans and forms large aggregates that entrap virus particles, rendering them inert and preventing their spread.
This mechanism gives the gum its unique strength: broad-spectrum antiviral action. It’s not limited to a single virus or variant and could be effective against many more viruses than influenza and HSV. However, those are the two specifically targeted in the team’s current research. That versatility could have major implications for infection control across various settings, including dental offices, schools, and global health programs.
What This Gum Has Going for It
This gum isn’t just about lab results. It was designed with practical use in mind. It’s shelf-stable for up to two years at room temperature, which makes it viable for storage and transport in places with limited refrigeration. It resists contamination, which is critical for a product intended for daily oral use. And most importantly, chewing triggers the release of active antiviral proteins right where viruses often begin replicating: the oral cavity.
Saliva is a major vector for virus transmission. In fact, oral exposure has been shown to carry a higher viral load than nasal exposure in some respiratory viruses. That’s particularly important in professions like dentistry, where aerosols and close contact are part of daily practice.
Chewing gum as an antiviral delivery system also offers advantages over vaccines in certain scenarios. It bypasses the need for needles, trained medical personnel, or refrigeration chains. That makes it an attractive option for low-resource communities, children, and individuals with medical contraindications to vaccination. And for viruses like HSV, which don’t currently have a vaccine, an antiviral gum could provide a welcome layer of protection.
Next Steps
Because FRIL works by targeting a common structural feature of many viruses, it appears to be effective against multiple flu strains and multiple SARS strains. Researchers are already considering whether similar types of technology could be applied to viruses like HPV, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and other viruses that spread in saliva. In fact, researchers are now testing lablab bean powder in bird feed to control bird flu.
It’s not hard to imagine a future where antiviral chewing gum could be deployed during a public health outbreak or as a preventive measure in high-risk environments. In dental settings, this could include pre-visit chewing for symptomatic patients or high-transmission seasons like winter flu outbreaks.
Is It Practical?
Still, for all its promise, this innovation faces real-world hurdles. Cost and accessibility will be critical factors. Will the gum be affordable enough to reach the populations who need it most? And what will compliance look like?
The idea behind the gum is that it could help reduce viral shedding in already infected people. But getting those individuals to chew it consistently, especially if they are asymptomatic, could prove challenging. In pediatric, geriatric, or special needs populations, chewing gum may not even be an option. And for individuals with TMJ disorders or those avoiding gum due to dental appliances, use could be limited.
Other practical questions remain: How long should someone chew the gum? How long does the antiviral protection last after chewing? Will multiple daily doses be needed, and if so, what’s the protocol? And how much would that end up costing each day?
While it’s easy to see how the gum could be helpful in more intimate contexts, such as between partners trying to reduce the risk of oral herpes transmission, it’s harder to envision how it would work for flu prevention on a population scale.
The More Tools We Have, the Better
Antiviral chewing gum isn’t a silver bullet, but it is a creative, science-driven solution that can potentially change how we manage viral transmission in oral environments. It represents an exciting intersection between oral health and systemic disease prevention for dental professionals. While we await larger-scale trials and practical implementation strategies, it’s worth watching this innovation.
As the boundaries between oral and systemic health continue to blur, new tools like this gum may find their place in public health initiatives and our operatories. Whether for protecting patients or reducing risk during respiratory outbreaks, antiviral gum could become part of the broader toolkit for infection control.
Author: Paige Anderson is a certified registered dental hygienist with eight years of clinical experience and an English degree. She blends her two areas of expertise to create resources for dental providers so they can change lives by giving their patients the highest possible standard of care.
