Last Updated : Aug 26, 2020 08:55 AM IST | Source: Moneycontrol.com
Coronavirus update: Gargling with mouthwash can 'inactivate' COVID-19 virus, say German scientists
At the same time, researchers cautioned against the use of mouthwashes as a preventive measure against the novel coronavirus infection.
According to a study conducted by a team of German scientists, SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, can be inactivated...
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with regular use of mouthwashes.
The study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases states that high viral loads can be detected in the oral cavity and throat of some COVID-19 patients.
The use of mouthwashes can help to reduce the viral load and possibly the risk of COVID-19 transmission over a short term, the researchers said, as per a Business Insider report.
The team tested eight types of mouthwashes available in Germany for the purpose of the study.
The researchers, however, cautioned against the use of mouthwashes as a preventive measure against the novel coronavirus infection.
"Gargling with mouthwashes cannot inhibit virus production, but it can reduce the viral load in the short term in the oral cavity and throat where the potential for infection is high," study researcher Toni Meister from Ruhr-Universitat Bochum in Germany said, as per the report.
The German researchers further said that the duration of the effects of mouthwash must be investigated in further studies.
Meanwhile, several cases of re-infection have raised concerns about people's immunity to the virus as the world is struggling to contain the pandemic. After a 33-year-old Hong Kong man, two European patients are confirmed to have been re-infected with the coronavirus.
The patient from Hong Kong got re-infected 4.5 months after the first infection, while virologist Marc Van Ranst said the Belgian case was a woman who had contracted COVID-19 for the first time in March and then again with a different coronavirus strain in June. Further cases of re-infection were likely to surface, he said.
India's COVID-19 tally is nearing the 32 lakh- mark. With 60,975 people testing positive for coronavirus infection in a day, coronavirus tally rose to 31,67,323 on August 25, while recoveries have surged to 24,04,585 pushing the recovery rate over 75.92 percent, according to health ministry data.
The death toll has climbed to 58,390, with 848 fatalities being reported in a span of 24-hours, the data showed.
Globally, more than 23.65 million cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in more than 210 countries across the world, according to a Reuters tally. Nearly 8,11,895 people have succumbed to the disease and over 15 million people have recovered from the infection.

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