Gargling with salt and water may help prevent hospitalization from coronavirus.
According to a study presented at this year’s annual scientific meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology in California, salt and water therapy appears to be associated with lower hospitalization rates for coronavirus infections.
During 2020-2022, 55 people aged 18-65 years with a positive PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 infection were randomly assigned to receive low- or high-dose saline for 14 days.
The low-dose solution consists of 2.13 grams of salt dissolved in eight ounces of warm water (about 227 ml) and the high-dose solution of six grams of salt dissolved in eight ounces of warm water. Participants gargled and washed their nose four times a day for 14 days. In addition, 9,398 individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection were evaluated, which constituted the reference population.
As a result, hospitalization rates in the low-dose and high-dose saline regimens were significantly lower than in the reference population: 18.5% for the low-dose, 21.4% for the high-dose, and 58.8% for the reference population .
“Our goal was to examine saline nasal washes and gargles for a possible association with improvement in respiratory symptoms associated with coronavirus infection,” notes Jimmy Espinosa, one of the study’s authors.
“We found that both saline regimens appear to be associated with lower rates of hospitalization in SARS-CoV-2 infections. We hope that more studies can be done to further investigate the association,” he adds.
