Oral rinsing and gargling with 0.12% of chlorhexidine gluconate mouthwash were effective in decreasing the salivary viral load of SARS-CoV-2 for at least sixty minutes.

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial was carried out to determine the effect of chlorhexidine gluconate on the salivary load of coronavirus.

The study included 100 people positive for coronavirus infection. Participants in the test group (n=50) gargled with a mouthwash containing 15 mL of chlorhexidine gluconate for 1 minute. On the other hand, participants in the control group (n = 50) used a placebo.

The saliva samples were procured prior to (baseline) and five and sixty minutes following the usage of solutions. Real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assays were carried out. Estimation of the cycle threshold was done. For group comparison, the chi-square test and t-test were utilized.

Chlorhexidine gluconate was found to promote the reduction of salivary SARS-CoV-2 load. The differences in cycle threshold values between the 5-minute evaluation and baseline and between 60 minutes and baseline were considerably higher in the chlorhexidine group. Compared to the control group, a greater percentage of people in the chlorhexidine group reported a decline in viral load, as illustrated in Table 1: 

A substantial decrease in the salivary viral load of patients who used chlorhexidine gluconate was reported compared to patients who used a placebo, with the effects lasting for at least sixty minutes.