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Mouthwash effective in slowing spread of gonorrhoea: Aust'n study

Xinhua, December 21, 2016 Adjust font size:

Using commercial mouthwash daily could slow the spread of gonorrhoea, an Australian study has found.

The study, released by the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre on Wednesday, found that using Listerine, a popular brand of mouthwash, daily can help slow the growth of bacteria responsible for the sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the mouth.

The researchers said that the discovery could prove to be significant as the rising rate of gonorrhoea worldwide increases the risk of an antibiotic-resistant strain of the infection developing.

"If daily use of mouthwash was shown to reduce the duration of untreated infection and/or reduce the probability of acquisition of gonorrhoea, then this readily available, condom-less, and low cost intervention may have very significant public health implications in the control of gonorrhoea in men," said the report, published in online journal Sexually Transmitted Infections on Wednesday.

Since its initial release in 1879 the manufacturers of Listerine have claimed that the antiseptic mouthwash claimed it could be used to cure gonorrhoea, but that hypothesis had never been tested in published research.

For the laboratory tests, different dilutions of Listerine products were applied to cultures of gonorrhoea to see which, if any of them, would curb the growth of the bacteria, while a saline solution was also applied to gonorrhoea cultures as a means if comparison.

The trial, which included 196 gay and bisexual men who had previously tested positive for gonorrhoea in their mouth and throat, found that the Listerine dilutions significantly reduced the gonorrhoea populations whereas salt water solutions did not.

Among the group of men who were given the Listerine solutions, the proportion of viable gonorrhoea in the throat was reduced to 54 percent after one minute of gargling compared to 64 percent in those who used the salt water.

The men using Listerine were also 80 percent less likely to test positive for gonorrhoea in their throat five minutes after gargling than the men using the saline solution. Endit