The efficacy of mouthwash for reducing the viral load in patients with the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) remains unclear. This systematic review and meta-analysis comprehensively examined the effects of chlorhexidine (CHX) and povidone-iodine (PVP-I) on the viral load in patients with COVID-19. We performed methodological analysis, systematic review, and meta-analysis of included studies using the Comprehensive Meta-analysis Software. PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and ProQuest were searched from December 1, 2019, to December 2, 2021. In total, we included 10 studies of 1,339 patients with COVID-19. Compared with the control group, both CHX and PVP-I significantly reduced the number of negative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) results (p<0.001) among COVID-19 patients. The CHX and PVP-I were effective on reducing the number of negative RT-PCR results in COVID-19 patients. Additional studies using adequate randomization methods and larger samples are warned.
The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).