Using salt water against Covid-19? And why not ! Scottish researchers have just launched a clinical trial and are currently looking for volunteers. The goal? Check if seawater can help against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.
According to a press release published on June 25, 2020, the University of Edinburgh (Scotland) has just launched a clinical trial named ELVIS Covid-19. This new trial finds its source in the results of a pilot study published in the journal Scientific Reports in January 2019. At the time, the same team was interested in using salt water to gargle and wash your nose.
The trial involved healthy volunteers who had had cold symptoms for less than two days . These same volunteers were then separated into two groups. Members of the first group had to gargle and rinse their nasal passages with a saline solution. As for the other group, the members just had to treat their colds as usual.
Depending on the results, water treatments salt helped relieve cough and nasal congestion volunteers. The researchers also explained that gargling and washing your nose with salt water can reduce remission time as well as the use of conventional drugs.
As part of new ELVIS Covid-19 trial, team says they have re-examined data of the first study. However, the same positive effects were found to be present in participants infected with one of the coronaviruses that cause the common cold. In fact, scientists believe that salt water can help activate the immune system. It is also about weakening viral replication , an important effect in limiting the spread of the virus, especially with regard to relatives.
“We will now be testing our saltwater intervention in people with suspected or confirmed Covid-19, and hopefully this will prove to be a measure helpful to reduce the effect and spread of infection. It only requires salt, water and some understanding of the procedure, so it should, if successful, be easy — and inexpensive — to implement widely.” explained Aziz Sheikh, the main leader of this research.
The team is currently recruiting volunteers who are coronavirus positive and showing symptoms for less than 48 hours . Volunteers must complete an online form in order to apply.
