Epidemiol Health.  2021;43(1):e2021051. 10.4178/epih.e2021051.

Hydrogen peroxide as an auxiliary treatment for COVID-19 in Brazil: a randomized double-blind clinical trial

• Domênico MBD
• Collares K
• Santos RBd
• Lenz U
• Antunes VP
• Godinho VW
• Cesca H
• Ponciano THJ
• Corazza PH

• KMID: 2522394
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4178/epih.e2021051

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
This study evaluated the effectiveness of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) as mouthwash and nasal spray on symptom relief in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients.
METHODS
Patients positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), who were treated in a hospital or at home, and patients’ family members (not positive for SARS-CoV-2), were randomized into 2 groups: experimental (1% H₂O₂ for gargling, 0.5% H₂O₂ for nasal wash), and control. Patients gargled the solution 3 times a day, and applied the nasal spray twice a day, for a 7-day period. Family members received the same treatment as the treated COVID-19 patient. The researchers contacted patients every 2 days over an 8-day period. An average post-treatment interval of 8 days passed before testing family members.
RESULTS
The most frequent symptoms on day 0 were cough, loss of taste, and hyposmia; there were no significant differences between groups, independent of the period. The symptom of dyspnea presented a significant difference between days 2 and 4 (p<0.05). Among family members, 86.0% had no antibodies, 2.3% had antibodies, and 11.6% had active infections (4 in the experimental group and 6 in the control group). The most frequent adverse effects in the H₂O₂ group were a burning throat and nose.
CONCLUSIONS
H₂O₂ was not effective for the relief of COVID-19 symptoms and was associated with reports of transient adverse effects.

Keyword

Hydrogen peroxide; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Brazil