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Another clinical trial (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04559035 ), this time a nasal irrigation with a saline solution. 2 groups, one adding baking soda to the saline solution, the other one adding Povidone-iodine to it. The outcomes of the participants in the trial were compared to outcomes in the CDC national database for the same time period. Results have just been published in a preprint (https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.08.16.21262044 ).
Conclusion: Patients who initiated mechanical isotonic saline nasal debridement within 24 hours of a positive COVID-19 PCR test were 19 times less likely to be hospitalized than the national rate.
Now let’s see what the Fact Checkers say about this again:
FACT: Rinsing your nose with saline does NOT prevent COVID-19
As usual, no reference to back such a bold claim. NOTHING. But here you have other two references that show the opposite is probably true:
– Hypertonic saline solution inhibits SARS-CoV-2 in vitro assay (preprint). Machado et al. 2020.
– A pilot, open labelled, randomised controlled trial of hypertonic saline nasal irrigation and gargling for the common cold. Ramalingam et al. 2019.
By the way, that imaginary “FACT” quoted above comes directly from the WHO’s site: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/myth-busters