Simple saline drops shown to cut common cold by DAYS in children – and reduce transmission

For parents, the cycle of coughs and sniffles that plague their young children can often seem never ending.

But simple saline nasal drops can cut the duration of the common cold in youngsters by two days and reduce onward transmission, a study found.

Researchers had noted that salt-water solutions are often used in southern Asia to treat a cold, and wanted to explore if this benefit could be replicated in a large study.

A team at the University of Edinburgh recruited 407 children aged up to six years.

Overall, 301 caught a cold, with 150 given the drops – which consist of a mix of salt and water – and the others given medicines such as paracetamol and ibuprofen.

A team at the University of Edinburgh (pictured) recruited 407 children aged up to six years. Overall, 301 caught a cold, with 150 given the drops – which consist of a mix of salt and water – and the others given medicines such as paracetamol and ibuprofen

Parents were instructed to give three drops per nostril a minimum of four times per day.

The study, presented at the European Respiratory Society Congress in Vienna, Austria, found those using the drops had symptoms for six days, while the others were ill for eight days. 

And fewer family members caught the child’s cold – 46 per cent compared to 61.

Professor Steve Cunningham, one of the study authors, said chloride found in salt is used by cells lining the nose and windpipe to produce hypochlorous acid, which the cells than use to defend against virus infection.