Lab studies suggest that mouthwash can inactivate the virus that causes COVID-19,
but whether it works in real people is still a question mark.
Human studies are underway to see whether oral or nasal rinses can help lower coronavirus levels in people with COVID-19.iStock (2)
Can gargling with mouthwash help reduce COVID-19 risk? Research out of Penn State College of Medicine suggests that it might be another weapon in the fight against the novel coronavirus.
Some health officials, however, caution that the evidence is preliminary, that mouthwash is no miracle cure, and that the infection can live on in a person despite gargling.
In lab tests conducted at Penn State, scientists found that common mouthwash and gargle products like Listerine inactivated 99 percent of a strain of coronavirus genetically similar to the one that causes COVID-19 in just 30 seconds.
“At one or two minutes, we couldn’t detect any infectious virus left using Listerine,” says lead study author Craig Meyers, PhD, a professor of microbiology and immunology and obstetrics and gynecology at Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, Pennsylvania.