Abstract
As public distribution of vaccines against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is underway, prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) relies on minimizing spread. In this study, chlorhexidine gluconate was investigated as a topical antimicrobial agent against SARS-CoV-2. This was a randomized, prospective cohort study using chlorhexidine as an oral rinse and posterior oropharyngeal spray in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. The primary outcome was presence or absence of laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 in the oral and oropharyngeal cavities after 4 days of chlorhexidine use and standard of care (study group) or standard of care only (control group). SARS-CoV-2 was eliminated from the oropharynx in 62.1% of patients who used chlorhexidine as an oral rinse, versus 5.5% of the control group patients. Among patients who used a combination of oral rinse and oropharyngeal spray, 86.0% eliminated oropharyngeal SARS-CoV-2, versus 6.3% of control patients. Chlorhexidine is a simple and safe addition to current COVID-19 prevention guidelines and may play a significant role in reducing disease spread.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; antiviral agents; coronavirus; disinfectants; dissemination; epidemiology; shedding.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, coronavirus, Epidemiology, Antiviral agents, shedding, dissemination, Disinfectants, 【초록키워드】 coronavirus disease, Coronavirus disease 2019, Vaccine, Antiviral, prospective cohort study, severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus, Spread, Randomized, Antiviral agents, Patient, Oropharyngeal, chlorhexidine, disease spread, distribution, patients, Combination, Safe, presence or absence, Standard of care, acute respiratory syndrome, Primary outcome, control group, hospitalized COVID-19 patients, study group, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, control patients, laboratory-confirmed, oropharynx, Chlorhexidine gluconate, antimicrobial agent, addition, investigated, absence, reducing, eliminated, 【제목키워드】 Oropharyngeal, COVID-19 patient,