A pilot, open labelled, randomised controlled trial of hypertonic saline nasal irrigation and gargling for the common cold.

ABSTRACT: There are no antivirals to treat viral upper respiratory tract infection (URTI). Since numerous viruses cause URTI, antiviral therapy is impractical. As we have evidence of chloride-ion dependent innate antiviral response in epithelial cells, we conducted a pilot, non-blinded, randomised controlled trial of hypertonic saline nasal irrigation and gargling (HSNIG) vs standard care on healthy adults within 48 hours of URTI onset to assess recruitment (primary outcome). Acceptability, symptom duration and viral shedding were secondary outcomes. Participants maintained a symptom diary until well for two days or a maximum of 14 days and collected 5 sequential mid-turbinate swabs to measure viral shedding. The intervention arm prepared hypertonic saline and performed HSNIG. We recruited 68 partic

SUBMITTER: Ramalingam S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6355924 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature