WEDNESDAY, Sept. 11, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Hypertonic saline (HS) nose drops reduce the duration of symptoms associated with viral upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) in children, according to a study presented at the European Respiratory Society Congress, held from Sept. 7 to 11 in Vienna.

Steve Cunningham, from University of Edinburgh in Scotland, and colleagues investigated whether HS nose drops (2.6 percent) could reduce duration of illness among 407 children (ages 0 to 6 years) with a URTI. Children were randomly assigned (1:1) to parent-delivered HS nose drops (three drops per nostril, four or more times per day until well) or usual care (UC).

The researchers found that in the HS group, children received a median of five days of HS drops a median three times per day. Symptoms were a median duration of two days shorter with HS (six versus eight days with UC; P = 0.004). Shortened duration of symptoms was only seen when virus was detected, but not when virus was not detected via a nasal swab (P = 0.9). The most common virus detected was rhinovirus. In the HS group, fewer household contacts developed a URTI (41 versus 58 percent with UC; P = 0.008). No serious adverse events occurred.

“Salt is made up of sodium and chloride,” Cunningham said in a statement. “Chloride is used by the cells lining the nose and windpipes to produce hypochlorous acid within cells, which they use to defend against virus infection. By giving extra chloride to the lining cells, this helps the cells produce more hypochlorous acid, which helps suppress viral replication, reducing the length of the virus infection, and therefore the duration of symptoms.”

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