Do saline water gargling and nasal irrigation confer protection against COVID-19?

This report provides a perspective on the relevance of saline water gargling and nasal irrigation to the COVID19 crisis. While there is limited evidence concerning their curative or preventive role against SARS-CoV-2 infection, previous work on their utility against influenza and recent post-hoc analysis of the Edinburgh and Lothians Viral Intervention Study (ELVIS) provide compelling support to their applicability in the current crisis. Saline water gargling and nasal irrigation represent simple, economical, practically feasible, and globally implementable strategies with therapeutic and prophylactic value. These methods, rooted in the traditional Indian healthcare system, are suitable and reliable in terms of infection control and are relevant examples of harmless interventions. We attempt to derive novel insights into their usefulness, both from theoretical and practical standpoints. (C) 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The report highlights the relevance and therapeutic and prophylactic value of saline water gargling and nasal irrigation in the context of the COVID19 crisis, drawing upon limited evidence but solid support from previous studies on influenza control and recent analysis. These methods, rooted in the traditional Indian healthcare system, are practical, economical, and globally implementable, making them suitable and reliable examples of harmless interventions in infection control.