Scientists prove £1.30 cold remedy really works – it shortens children’s colds by two days

For parents, the cycle of coughing and sniffling that young children experience seems endless.

But simple saline nose drops can shorten the duration of a cold in children by two days – and reduce transmission to other family members – a study shows.

Saline drops, which are available over the counter in the UK for just £1.30, consist of a mixture of salt and water.

Researchers had noted that people in South Asia often use saltwater solutions – in the nose or by gargling – to treat the common cold and wanted to investigate whether this benefit could be replicated in a large-scale study.

Treatments like paracetamol can’t speed recovery from a cold, but experts have found that nose drops or sprays can.

Professor Steve Cunningham, one of the study’s authors from the University of Edinburgh, said: ‘Children get around 10 to 12 respiratory infections, also known as colds, each year and this has a major impact on them and their families.

‘There are medications that can relieve symptoms, such as paracetamol and ibuprofen, but there are no treatments that can make a cold go away faster.’

The team recruited 407 children aged up to six years for a study, where they were given either saline nasal spray or usual care for colds.

In total, 301 children caught a cold. For 150 of them, the parents were given sea salt and taught how to make nose drops with salt water and apply them to the children’s noses.

They were instructed to administer three drops per nostril at least four times a day until they recovered.

The remaining 151 children received usual cold care, including other medications.

‘We found that children using saline nose drops had cold symptoms for an average of six days, while children receiving usual care had cold symptoms for eight days,’ said Professor Cunningham.

“We found that children who used saline nose drops had cold symptoms for an average of six days, while children who received usual care had cold symptoms for eight days,” the study author said.

‘The children who received saline nose drops also needed less medication during their illness.

‘Salt is made up of sodium and chloride. Chloride is used by the cells in the nose and trachea to produce hypochlorous acid in cells, which they use to defend themselves against viral infections.

‘By adding extra chloride, the cells can produce more hypochlorous acid, which helps suppress viral replication. This shortens the duration of the viral infection and the symptoms.’

When children were given saline nose drops, fewer households reported family members catching a cold: 46 percent compared with 61 percent of households whose children received usual care.

Two-fifths of parents indicated that their child got better quickly with the nose drops and the same number indicated that they would like to use them in the future.

Some saline solutions and sprays can be found for as little as £1.30, while branded products such as Calpol cost around £4.70

Professor Cunningham added: ‘If you reduce the duration of colds in children, fewer people in the household will get colds. That has clear implications for how quickly a family can feel better and get back to their usual activities, such as school, work, etc.

‘Our research also shows that parents can safely make and administer nose drops to their children and therefore have some control over their children’s colds.’

Professor Alexander Möeller from the University Children’s Hospital Zurich commented on the study: ‘This is an important study, the first of its kind to investigate the effect of saline nose drops in children with colds.

‘Although colds are usually not serious, we all know how awful they can be, especially for young children and their families.

‘This extremely inexpensive and simple intervention could be implemented worldwide. Providing parents with a safe and effective way to reduce the impact of the common cold on their children and families would significantly reduce the health and economic burden of this common condition.’

The findings were presented at the European Respiratory Society Congress in Vienna, Austria.

Dr Andy Whittamore, clinical lead at Asthma + Lung UK, said: ‘If parents and carers can reduce the time a child is ill with a readily available solution like salt water nose drops, they can reduce the amount of time they are ill.

‘The saline solutions can even be made at home, are very safe for children and easy to administer.

‘Although colds are common in children and rarely dangerous, a recent survey found that about 3 in 4 people said colds and flu made their lung conditions worse.

“Reducing the time someone is sick and contagious helps stop the spread of these respiratory infections.”