A new study, conducted at Cardiff University, is suggesting that basic, over-the-counter mouthwash may be able to fight COVID-19.
The preliminary findings of a study, carried out by researchers at the United Kingdom-based Cardiff University, found that mouthwash was able to combat COVID-19 during a 30-second exposure in a lab.
Now the findings are “preliminary” because it has not yet been tested in actual humans who have the coronavirus. According to the initial findings, the study is triggering a new research study about the prospect of mouthwash as an effective tool to combat COVID-19 and other related virus strains.
The report from Cardiff found that mouthwashes containing at least 0.07% cetypyridinium chloride (CPC) showed promise of combatting COVID-19. The tests, which have been carried out at the school’s laboratory, mimicked the conditions of a naso/oropharynx passage using common mouthwashes, according to a published report.
Mouthwashes tested included Listerine Advanced and versions of Dentyl, a UK-based brand.
Previous studies, including one by the same university, have also hypothesized that oral rinses are a possible way of reducing the transmission of the virus.
“This study adds to the emerging literature that several commonly-available mouthwashes designed to fight gum disease can also inactivate the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus (and other related coronaviruses) when tested in the laboratory under conditions that are designed to mimic the oral/nasal cavity in a test tube,” Dr. Richard Stanton, who led the study, said, as quoted by the BBC.
The products, which have proven effective in the lab, will now be the subject of clinical studies. Results of the next phase of trials are expected in early 2021.
The next phase of tests will not only test how they work in patients, but also how long effects might last, according to Cardiff University researchers.
Graham Cox
