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But mouthwash is unlikely to be a solution to the pandemic, or even someone’s personal protection plan.
This is because a lot of things can kill a virus on contact, but they are not going to stop the source of the virus.
“Yes. There is data out there – I’m not saying this is great data – that the fillable inactivates or inhibits the replication of the coronavirus,” Dr Graham Snyder, associate professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Pittsburgh medical school, told CNN.
Alcohol, chlorhexidine, hydrogen peroxide, and a range of other compounds can all kill viruses on contact or soon after.
But none of the recently published studies of pre-print servers show that they can reduce the risk of catching or transmitting the virus, Snyder points out.
Inside the human body, the virus is constantly replicating in the upper respiratory tract – in the nose, sinuses, throat, bronchial tubes, and lungs.
“It’s always in your nose, in the fluid in your vocal cords and in your pulmonary airways,” said Dr. Donald Milton, who studies virus transmission at the University of Maryland.
“All of these and in particular the vocal cords and pulmonary airways are major sources of the virus in the air,” Milton told CNN.
“You cannot sterilize your mouth
“When we breathe out, cough, sneeze, or whatever, the virus can come from any of those places,” Snyder said.
Although using a mouthwash or some sort of mouthwash can in theory reduce the amount of virus or bacteria in a person’s mouth for a short time, it is not possible to sterilize the human mouth and any microbe will grow back in a fairly short period of time.
“You cannot sterilize your mouth. It will never be completely free of pathogens,” Snyder said.
“The use of these mouthwashes will not significantly interrupt the disease process. The virus will continue to replicate.”
The same goes for ultraviolet light, ”Snyder noted. While UV light from any source – the sun, a sunlamp, or many anti-coronavirus devices that are hitting the market – can kill the virus on surfaces, it cannot get inside the body and they can’t stop more viruses from landing later, and they can’t stop someone from exhaling more virus a few seconds after being irradiated.
Mouthwash or other disinfectants won’t do much to protect someone from virus inhalation, said Dr Leana Wen, emergency physician and visiting professor of health policy and management at George Washington University School of Public Health.
Hand sanitizer in the nose?
“The virus can enter our respiratory system in two ways. It can come in by contact, for example, if you touch a doorknob that someone else just touched who has coronavirus, then you touch your nose, your mouth or your eyes, ”Wen said.
“It can also come in by inhalation, when you breathe the same air as someone who is contagious. Washing your mouth or nose will not prevent inhalation of the virus. But wearing a mask does – everything. like maintaining a good physical distance. “
Wen said she recently had to explain why applying Purell to the nose – something that feels uncomfortable and dangerous as well as unnecessary – won’t protect anyone from infection.
It’s such a tenuous theory that even Johnson & Johnson, the makers of Listerine mouthwash, have explicitly cautioned consumers against the idea.
“Only certain formulations of Listerine mouthwash contain alcohol, and if present it contains only 20% alcohol. Listerine mouthwash is not intended to be used, nor would it be of benefit. as a hand sanitizer or a surface sanitizer. “
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