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. 2022 May 24:1–7. Online ahead of print. doi: 10.1038/s41432-022-0253-z

Table 2.

Summary of results of the studies

Author/year Sample (n) Intervention Comparator Results of viral load
Saliva
Gottsauner (2020) 10 20 mL 1% H2O2 None

Baseline: median 1.8 x 103 (IQR 3.1 x 102 and 4.7 x 104) copies/mL of SARS-CoV-2 RNA

30 min: median 1.5 x 103 (IQR 8.3 x 102 and 3.4 x 104) copies/mL of SARS-CoV-2 RNA

(p = 0.96)

Martínez Lamas (2020) 4 15 mL of 1% PI None

Authors state that in 2 of the 4 participants (patients 3 [P3] and 4 [P4]), the PVP-I resulted in a significant drop in viral load, which remained for at least 3 hours. Statistical significance and exact viral load measurements were not reported

Data for viral load (log10 copies/mL) was extracted utilising the online application 'WebPlotDigitizer' as follows:

Baseline: P1: 2.8; P2: 5.8; P3: 2.2; P4: 4.2

5 min: P1: 3.0; P2: 5.3; P3: 2.8; P4: 4.3

1 hour: P1: 2.8; P2: 2.4; P3: 2.4; P4: 3.2

2 hours: P1: 2.8; P2: 1.8; P3: 1.6; P4: 2.5

3 hours: P1: 3.2; P2: 1.0; P3: 2.2; P4: 2.2

Seneviratne (2020)

PI group (n = 4)

CHX group (n = 6)

CPC group (n = 4)

Water as control group (n = 2)

PI 5 mL (0.5% w/v)

CHX 15 mL of undiluted (0.2% w/v)

CPC 20 mL of 0.075%

Sterile water

A statistically significant increase in fold change of Ct value at 5 min (1) and 6 hours (0.9) was observed post-rinsing with CPC mouthrinse compared to the water group patients (p <0.05). A statistically significant increase in fold change was obtained only at 6 hours (1) post-rinsing with PI in comparison with water (p <0.01)

Data for exact Ct values were not reported. Mean Ct values were extracted utilising the online application 'WebPlotDigitizer' as follows:

Baseline: PI group 22.5; CHX group 29.9; CPC group 32.1; water group 26.4

5 min: PI group 24.1; CHX group 27.9; CPC group 32.9; water group 25.3

3 h: PI group 24.1; CHX group 30.1; CPC group 30.7; water group 23.2

6 h: PI group 23; CHX group 28; CPC group 31.9; water group 22

Yoon (2020) 2 CHX solution mouthwash (0.12%, 15 mL) for 30 seconds None

Hospital day 3 (viral load, log10 copies/mL):

Baseline: P1: 6.86 P2: 4.87

1 h: P1: ND P2:ND

2 h: P1: ND P2: ND

4 h: P1: 6.38 P2: 4.00

Hospital day 6 (viral load, log10 copies/mL):

Baseline: P1: 4.36 P2: 5.00

1 h: P1: 4.70 P2: 3.93

2 h: P1: 2.93 P2: 3.85

4 h: P1: 6.26 P2: 2.73

Schürmann (2021)

34 SARS-CoV-2 positive hospitalised patients were recruited, two measurements were obtained in only 29 patients: at baseline and after 5 minutes

A sample of 5 patients was followed for up to 6 hours

Linolasept for 1 minute None

Among those followed for 5 min (n = 29) (mean Ct-value):

Baseline: 26.0 (SD 5.8)

5 min: 29.1 (SD 6.1)

Among those followed for 6 h (n = 5):

Highly infectious patients recovered initial viral load during this time while less infectious patients were not able to restore their initial infectiviy 6 h post-gargling

Data for exact viral load (1*10X) was not reported. This was extracted utilising the online application 'WebPlotDigitizer' as follows:

Baseline: P1: 9.4; P2: 7.1; P3: 6.0; P4: 4.3; P5: 4.4

5 min: P1: 4.9; P2: 5.6; P3: 3.4; P4: 3.8; P5: 2.6

2 h: P1: 6.9; P2: 6.6; P3: 4.0; P4: 3.2; P5: 2.6

4 h: P1: 7.7; P2: 7.1; P3: 4.9; P4: 3.3; P5: 2.6

6 h: P1: 8.6; P2: 6.9; P3: 5.5; P4: 3.3; P5: 3.3

Key:

IQR = interquartile range; PI = povidone-iodine; CHX = chlorhexidine gluconate; CPC = cetylpyridinium chloride; min = minutes; h = hours; Ct = cycle threshold values; P = patient; ND = non detectable; SD = standard deviation.