Lowering the transmission and spread of human coronavirus

Abstract

The emergence of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 pandemic has created an unprecedented healthcare, social, and economic disaster. Wearing of masks and social distancing can significantly decrease transmission and spread, however, due to circumstances such as medical or dental intervention and personal choice these practices have not been universally adopted. Additional strategies are required to lessen transmission. Nasal rinses and mouthwashes, which directly impact the major sites of reception and transmission of human coronaviruses (HCoV), may provide an additional level of protection against the virus. Common over‐the‐counter nasal rinses and mouthwashes/gargles were tested for their ability to inactivate high concentrations of HCoV using contact times of 30 s, 1 min, and 2 min. Reductions in titers were measured by using the tissue culture infectious dose 50 (TCID50) assay. A 1% baby shampoo nasal rinse solution inactivated HCoV greater than 99.9% with a 2‐min contact time. Several over‐the‐counter mouthwash/gargle products including Listerine and Listerine‐like products were highly effective at inactivating infectious virus with greater than 99.9% even with a 30‐s contact time. In the current manuscript we have demonstrated that several commonly available healthcare products have significant virucidal properties with respect to HCoV.

Brief Report: The Virucidal Efficacy of Oral Rinse Components Against SARS-CoV-2 In Vitro

“…Mouthwash formulations provide differential virucidal efficacy against SARS-CoV2. Virus was mixed with synthetic salivary secretions and mouthwash, then purified by SEC after 30 seconds, before being titrated by plaque assay on VeroE6/ACE2/TMPRSS2.DiscussionOur data, using an assay that enabled us to detect up to 5-log10 reduction in SARS-CoV2 activity, further support the accumulating evidence for high virucidal activity by widely-available mouthwashes in vitro, against SARS-CoV2 and the related HCoV-229E coronavirus strain[3][4][5]. Here, three products which contained either (i) 0.07-0.1 % CPC (Dentyl Dual Action, Dentyl Fresh Protect) or (ii) 23 % ethanol with LAE (Listerine Advanced) provided the greatest level of inactivation, surpassing the level required for EN14476.The ability of CPC-containing mouthwashes to reduce viral infectivity is in line with studies using other enveloped viruses; similar microemulsion formulations of CPC (with a similar isopropyl myristate microemulsion as Dentyl Dual Action) have been demonstrated to exhibit both inherent…”

“…Limit of detection antimicrobial activity [8] and specific activity against Herpes Simplex virus [9], and other mouthwash formulations containing 0.07 % CPC have been reported to reduce infectivity of seasonal coronaviruses by 3-4-log10 [4]. In our study, SARS-CoV2 was even more sensitive to the CPCcontaining mouthwashes than in these previous reports using hCoV-229E; this may reflect the cumulative activity of additional components in these formulations.…”

Virucidal activity of oral care products against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro

“…The Center for Disease Control (CDC) and American Dental Hygienists’ Association (ADHA) have recommended use of CPC- or CHX-containing mouthwash before the dental procedure against COVID-19 [ 11 , 12 ]. However, only a few reports have examined an inactivating effect of CHX on SARS-CoV-2 [ 7 , 13 ] and some have suggested effects of CPC on other viruses [ 3 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ], but with no certified data on direct inactivation effects of CPC on SARS-CoV-2 [ 18 ]. On the other hands, in previous studies, virucidal activities were tested against some Coronaviruses [ 19 , 20 ].…”

Review of the Use of Nasal and Oral Antiseptics During a Global Pandemic

“…Heparin has been proposed as a potential therapeutic nasal rinse against COVID-19 as a potential antiviral based on the strong affinity that the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein has for heparin [ 86 ]. There is some evidence that baby shampoo is effective against HCoV-229E and is currently being evaluated [ 87 ]. Baby shampoo is composed of surfactants and has been investigated as an adjunct therapy in chronic rhinosinusitis [ 88 ].…”