Evidence mounts that saline nasal drops and sprays help treat colds

Nasal saline drops seem to speed our recovery from common colds. In the latest study on this, children treated with a homemade version of these drops stopped experiencing symptoms, such as sneezing and a blocked nose, two days earlier than those who didn’t.

More than 200 viruses can cause cold-like symptoms, which makes it difficult to develop general yet effective treatments that target them. As a result, most cold therapies only ease symptoms, rather than shortening their duration.

But research increasingly suggests that saline solutions may be an exception. Studies have found that adults who use saline nasal drops or sprays for a cold experience reduced symptoms, recover faster and are less likely to pass the infection on.

Now, Steve Cunningham at the University of Edinburgh in the UK and his colleagues have tested the approach in children. The parents of 150 youngsters with cold symptoms were asked to deposit three drops of a saline solution into each of their child’s nostrils at least four times a day, starting within 48 hours of symptoms appearing and continuing until they resolved. The water-based solution, which the parents mixed themselves, was 2.6 per cent salt.

A separate group of 151 children received their parents’ usual cold care, such as giving over-the-counter medications or encouraging rest. All the children were younger than 7 years old and their symptoms were recorded by their parents.

The researchers found that those who started the drops within 24 hours of symptoms appearing recovered two days earlier than those who didn’t use the drops at all. Other members of their households were also less likely to develop cold symptoms themselves. But the children who started using the drops later on fared no better than those who didn’t use them at all and were no less likely to pass a cold on.

Cunningham – who will present the findings at a European Respiratory Society meeting in Vienna, Austria, on 8 September – says the chloride ions in saline may cause cells to create more of an antiviral substance called hypochlorous acid. However, this may need to start in the early stages of infection, before the virus becomes more established, he says.

But William Schaffner at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tennessee is sceptical that this approach actually helps to clear viral infections. “I would like to see much more [evidence] to convince me that this is an antiviral effect, rather than symptomatic relief,” he says.

The researchers could have treated a separate group of children with plain water drops or a lower-concentration saline solution, says Schaffner. That could tell us whether the saline nasal drops accelerate recovery by targeting viruses or merely ease symptoms by moistening mucous membranes, he says.