Looking at the study it doesn’t look like the participants in the trial were randomised - rather if you wanted to use Taffix you could.
If I’m right I’m not sure what to make of it - you could have selection bias either way. More conscientious/concerned people took it or people with jobs where they had higher exposure levels took it. I would guess the former effect would be larger but not sure.
It doesn't seem like it had wide publicity. Even though it's an Israeli development and I'm Israeli i only heard of it from ejacob's post.
Well, it may in fact work, but - you can also buy masks that have been used for decades to protect against asbestos and lead paint dust. They are rated to let through 0.3% of the 0.3 micron particles, which according to a chart on wiki on the subject, is typically the most difficult to filter particle size. Note that Covid travels in droplets and cannot travel as naked virions. They also tend to seal better to your face, and you can buy these masks from Amazon and they are made by 3M.
The drawback of them is you look like you Mean Business wearing them, and it's hard to talk to anyone else. But in terms of protection, this spray is like choosing to wear homemade body armor rather than commercial grade. It may work but it would be stupid to go into a gunfight wearing it if you have a choice of gear actually rated to protect you.
Taffix is a nasal powder spray that builds up a protective mechanical barrier against viruses and allergens in the nasal cavity. The EMA allowed them to write on their packaging insert to advertise it's clinical effects by saying:
The idea was conceived in March and they did a study during the Jewish New Year event which was as expect a superspreader event (orthodox Jewish people gathering in close proximity while a lot of them were infected). Among the 83 people who received the intervention only the two people who reported not consistently using the spray (you have to apply it every 5 hours) got infected while in the control group 16 out of 160 got infected. Nobody reported any side-effects.
It seems that the information took month to tickle through to us at LessWrong with ejacob writing in his shortform. Living in Europe I could simply order my Taffix on Amazon and had it delievered soon after. In the spirit of more dakka, it would make sense to everyone to get their Taffix. Maybe we could have even prevented the winter lockdown if everybody would have gotten their Taffix.