General Discussion

Now why that is is up in the air. It was first observed in vaginal mucosa. Keeping it as lay person as possible, scientists were just testing the effects of antibiotics on mice. They noticed when they were used to treat vaginal bacterial infections, they were providing resistance to viruses. Upon further research, they realized the antibiotics were triggering expression of a gene in cells that helps the immune system fight viruses.

So, they were curious. The upper respiratory tract is full of mucosal cells. Maybe antibiotics will cause the same effect and assist in the immune response to viruses as well. If we deal with viruses in the upper respiratory tract, we fight them off a lot better. Once they're in the lower tract - our lungs - that's when the Covid shitshow really starts.

That seems to be maybe the case here. They tested it on mice, then hamsters, then a human pilot program. Antibiotics in the upper respiratory tract triggered the antiviral immune response, reducing viral replication and infection.

So it's not that the antibiotics are killing the virus - they aren't. They're just triggering mucous cells in such a way that they become more resistant to viruses and/or able to fight them off more effectively.

It's interesting, because they weren't exactly looking for or expecting this effect. And they're not entirely sure why the antibiotics are triggering gene expression. They have some ideas, but that would require follow up studies to pin down.