Gargling with salt water may help prevent hospitalization due to Covid-19. Research presented at the annual scientific meeting American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI).
The study included 58 people aged 18 to 65 who had a positive PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 infection between 2020 and 2022. They gargled and rinsed their noses with low- and high-salt saline solutions: 2.13 or six grams of salt, respectively, dissolved in 240 ml of warm water. Gargling and nose cleaning were performed 4 times a day for 14 days.
An additional 9,398 individuals who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 served as the comparison group. The rate of hospitalization due to coronavirus was 58.8 percent. Patients who gargled were much less likely to be hospitalized: 18.5% of patients in the low-salt group and 21.4% of patients in the high-salt group.
None of the participants had hypertension. The safety of using saline solutions in people with high blood pressure needs to be evaluated in additional studies.
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