Study suggests mouthwash could fight COVID-19

LAKE MARY, Fla. - A new study suggests something as simple as mouth wash could help cut down the spread of COVID-19.

The study, conducted by researchers at Penn State college of medicine, found Listerine-type oral rinses were able to inactivate human coronaviruses genetically similar to COVID-19.

“In the case of some of these mouthwashes, we saw that almost all the virus, in some cases we couldn’t detect any virus, was left,” said Dr. Craig Meyers, the lead author of the research.

Dr. Meyers does not claim this is a cure. However, he does believe the use of certain mouthwashes for a certain period of time (30 seconds or so) could reduce the transmission of the virus.

“It’s coming out of our mouth as we speak. No matter how careful you are, you’re always sending out droplets, and if you can lower that amount that’s coming out of people’s mouths, then you can lower spread,” he said.

If you already have COVID-19, it is unlikely mouthwash would shorten recovery time.

“Your real sickness is going to be when it gets down in your lungs. This is not going to do anything to your lung. This is the virus that’s sitting in your nose and mouth waiting to be spread to somebody,” he said.

Meyers hopes the school receives funding to do clinical trials to further the research.