Antimicrobial mouthwashes and nasal sprays use by patients: no available evidence by 1 June 2020
Citation: Burton MJ, Clarkson JE, Goulao B, et al. Antimicrobial mouthwashes (gargling) and nasal sprays administered to patients with suspected or confirmed COVID‐19 infection to improve patient outcomes and to protect healthcare workers treating them. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2020;(9):CD013627.
What is this? Antimicrobial mouthwashes and nasal sprays used by patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 infection have been suggested as ways to improve their outcomes and to protect healthcare workers from infection.
In this Cochrane rapid review, the authors searched for studies of use of antimicrobial mouthwash or nasal spray by patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infection. They did not restrict their searches by date, language or status of publication. They did the search on 1 June 2020 but did not find any completed studies. They identified 16 ongoing studies (including 14 randomized trials).
What works: Nothing noted.
What doesn’t work: Nothing noted.
What’s uncertain: The effects of antimicrobial mouthwashes and nasal sprays on patient outcomes and transmission of COVID-19 to healthcare workers are uncertain.