Monkeypox, a zoonotic disease, was first identified in humans in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970. In the 50 years since its inception, the monkeypox endemic was concentrated in Central and West Africa. Sporadic cases reported in Europe and North America were linked to imported cases (1). On May 7, 2022, a confirmed case of monkeypox was first reported in the United Kingdom, and several countries subsequently reported cases of monkeypox, spanning the globe from Europe to North America, Africa, and Asia. Since the end of June 2022, cases have tended to sharply increase globally (2). Given the risk of this epidemic spreading, the WHO declared the monkeypox epidemic a global public health emergency, which is the WHO's highest level of public health alert (Figure 1).

Keywordschlorine dioxide (ClO 2 ), nasal irrigation, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, respiratory infectious diseases Chlorine dioxide (ClO 2 ) is a high-level disinfectant that is safe and widely used for sterilization. Due to the limitations on preparing a stable solution, direct use of ClO 2 in the human body is limited. Nasal irrigation is an alternative therapy used to treat respiratory infectious diseases. This study briefly summarizes the available evidence regarding the safety/efficacy of directly using ClO 2 on the human body as well as the approach of nasal irrigation to treat COVID-19. Based on the available information, as well as a preliminary experiment that comprehensively evaluated the efficacy and safety of ClO 2 , 25-50 ppm was deemed to be an appropriate concentration of ClO 2 for nasal irrigation to treat COVID-19. This finding requires further verification. Nasal irrigation with ClO 2 can be considered as a potential alternative therapy to treat respiratory infectious diseases, and COVID-19 in particular.