Vaccination may be on the nose in Donald Trump’s America with RFK Junior heading the federal health department as Secretary of Health. The facts are that vaccination rates for influenza are down in the US. In addition, there is no vaccine for the HSV herpes virus. Therefore, new approaches are called for and this may well be one of them. Antiviral chewing gum to reduce herpes and influenza could just be a winning strategy. In this instance, scientific researchers have tested a clinical-grade antiviral chewing gum to reduce the viral loads of herpes simplex viruses and influenza A strains.

Antiviral Gum Chewing Out Herpes Simplex & Influenza A

“In today’s interconnected world, infectious diseases pose an escalating threat, as demonstrated by the coronavirus pandemic and outbreaks of H1N1, SARS, Ebola, Zika, and H5N1 (bird flu) viruses — all of which have had significant global health and economic impacts. But more common viral diseases also contribute to global health challenges and economic costs. For example, seasonal influenza epidemics occur annually, causing a substantial global disease burden and economic losses exceeding $11.2 billion each year in the United States alone. Meanwhile, herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1), spread primarily through oral contact, infects over two-thirds of the global population and is the leading cause of infectious blindness in Western countries.”
– Henry Daniell is the W.D. Miller Professor in the Department of Basic & Translational Sciences at the School of Dental Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

The flu and herpes are both serious infectious diseases plaguing modern humans around the world. The advent of vaccination backlash being popularised by politicians for their own power grabs at the polls means that alternative healthcare strategies have to be put into place. Chewing gum has always been a quintessentially American pastime. Putting that proclivity for chewing gum to work on beating back Influenza A and Herpes Simplex can only be a good thing. The transmission of these diseases involves the mouth more often than not and, therefore, it makes sense to focus the therapeutic solution in the oral cavity too. Chewing gum to reduce herpes and influenza will be big winners, if everything proves to be as effective and safe as early signs indicate.

Why Chew Antiviral Gum For Herpes & Influenza?

The study in question here, involving researchers from the School of Dental Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and scientific collaborators in Finland, was originally published in Molecular Therapy. This work built on their previous success with SARS -CoV-2 and COVID-18 patients. Gum was at the core of this approach and it managed to neutralise two distinct herpes simplex viruses (HSV-1 and HSV-2) and two distinct strains of influenza A (H1N1and H3N2). The chewing gum was formulated from lablab beans, Lablab purpureus, which naturally contain the antiviral trap protein (FRIL).

“They demonstrated that 40 milligrams of a two-gram bean gum tablet was adequate to reduce viral loads by more than 95%, a reduction similar to what they saw in their SARS-CoV-2 study.’
– Science Daily

What Is FRIL?

FRIL is a protein derived from an edible bean. This anti-viral bean has roots stretching back to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

“Dr. Jia-Tsrong Jan, who is in charge of the P3 lab in GRC, is a virologist. Back in 2003, Jan became famous in Taiwan as “the last SARS patient”. Motivated by lingering side effects from his ordeal, Dr. Jan started studying traditional Chinese medicine.”
– Genomics Taiwan

A determined deep dive into millennia of TCM wisdom by the scientist involved the screening of in excess of 400 different herbal medicines used by TCM in treating the influenza virus. Finding the lablab bean resulted in antiviral success. This is another exciting example of the old providing the therapeutic basis for new healthcare solutions in the modern world. Too often doctors echew traditional healing techniques out of hand. China and Taiwan are the scene of fresh evaluations of their rich traditions because millennia of effective treatments must have some basis for their medical solutions.

The Need For An Oral Viral Solution

“Lack of Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) vaccine, low vaccination rates of Influenza viruses, waning immunity and viral transmission after vaccination underscore the need to reduce viral loads at their transmission sites. Oral virus transmission is several orders of magnitude higher than nasal transmission. Therefore, in this study, we evaluated neutralization of viruses using a natural viral trap protein (FRIL) formulated in clinical-grade chewing gum. “
– Daniell H, Guo Y, Singh R, Karki U, Kulchar RJ, Wakade G, Pihlava JM, Khazaei H, Cohen GH. Debulking influenza and herpes simplex virus strains by a wide-spectrum anti-viral protein formulated in clinical grade chewing gum. Mol Ther. 2025 Jan 8;33(1):184-200. doi: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2024.12.008. Epub 2024 Dec 10. PMID: 39663701; PMCID: PMC11764783.

Human trials are next to test the antiviral gum, which was prepared according to FDA specifications for drug products and found to be safe for humans. The human trials will be used to minimise virus infection/transmission. You can imagine the popularity of an effective therapeutic oral treatment for Herpes and influenza A – it will be huge. These scourges of modern day, especially Herpes Simplex have caused many people much angst and ill health. An antiviral chewing gum to reduce herpes and influenza is an excellent concept and hopefully it proves to be so in practice too.

Lablab FRIL To Also Tackle Bird Flu

Tackling bird flu could be next for lablab, as this is having a significant impact in the United States right now. Human infections are being reported and some 54 million birds have been infected by H5N1. In many ways, the world is still in post-denial over COVID-19. By this I mean everyone is over it and focused on moving on, but bird flu is beginning to look very scary to many experts in the field. It would be a strange coincidence if Donald Trump’s presidency is once again blighted by another global pandemic. Especially as his administration are gutting federal government departments like the CDC.

It is a super shortsighted idea to reduce funding and jobs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at a time when the world might once again be on the precipice.

Avian Flu H5N1

H5 bird flu is widespread in wild birds worldwide and is causing outbreaks in poultry and U.S. dairy cows with several recent human cases in U.S. dairy and poultry workers.

While the current public health risk is low, CDC is watching the situation carefully and working with states to monitor people with animal exposures.

CDC is using its flu surveillance systems to monitor for H5 bird flu activity in people.

Will Antiviral Bubble Gum Be Next?

Where chewing gum goes, bubble gum follows – into the mouths of the next generation.

Antiviral medications are one of the most discreet treatments – a often they help manage a disease that the users don’t want other people to know about. So one day it may look like bubble gum, taste like bubble gum, and even smell like bubble gum, but it may be part of an entire flavour range of antivirals on the march, helping humankind feel healthier about itself.

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