How to cut length of your child’s cold by two days

Scientists find saline nasal drops help recovery and can also cut chance of passing on germs

Scientists have discovered how to cut the length of a child’s cold by two days.
Giving saline nasal drops was found to significantly shorten the length of time that symptoms were suffered.
The study found that drops made up of a concentration of salt could also cut the chance of passing on colds to family members.
The research, which has not yet been published in an academic journal, was presented at the European Respiratory Society Congress in Vienna.
Prof Steve Cunningham, of the University of Edinburgh, who worked on the randomised controlled trial, said: “Children have up to 10 to 12 upper respiratory tract infections – what we refer to as colds – per year, which have a big impact on them and their families.
“There are medicines to improve symptoms, such as paracetamol and ibuprofen, but no treatments that can make a cold get better quicker. 
“We found that children using salt water nose drops had cold symptoms for an average of six days where those with usual care had symptoms for eight days. The children receiving salt water nose drops also needed fewer medicines during their illness.”
Prof Cunningham said that the 2.6 per cent salt water concentration of drops used in the study cannot currently be bought over the counter and needs to be made by parents. His team plans to release “simple instructions” and a video within the next few days to help them do this at home.
He added that he hoped the research “will encourage use of hypertonic saline nose drops by healthcare professionals (three per cent hypertonic saline solutions are available) until an over-the-counter or pharmacy preparation for this purpose can be made available”.
Prof Cunningham explained how salt may work to cut the length of colds, saying: “Salt is made up of sodium and chloride. Chloride is used by the cells lining the nose and windpipes to produce hypochlorous acid within cells, which they use to defend against virus infection.
“By giving extra chloride to the lining cells, this helps the cells produce more hypochlorous acid, which helps suppress viral replication, reducing the length of the virus infection, and therefore the duration of symptoms.”
The research team recruited 407 children aged up to six for the study. They were given either salt water nasal drops or usual care when they developed a cold.
Some 301 children developed a cold, and for 150 of these their parents were given sea salt and taught to make and apply salt water nose drops to the children’s noses – three drops per nostril, a minimum of four times per day, until well. The other 151 children received usual care.
In children given the drops, fewer households reported family members catching a cold. Forty-six per cent of households passed on the cold, versus 61 per cent in the homes that did not use the drops.
Eighty-two per cent of parents said the nose drops helped their child get better quickly, while 81 per cent said they would use nose drops in the future.
Dr Matthew Siggins, a research fellow at the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College London, who was not involved in the study, said the research showed a degree of success with reducing the length of symptoms, “albeit only moderately”.
He said that the new trial matched results from a larger study in adults, which also found that the use of saline water reduced symptoms by about two days on average, and called for future studies that could help design sprays that can more effectively suppress symptoms and spread.
Dr Siggins said: “For now, saline seems a cheap and easy approach that may help somewhat ease the experience of your and your children’s next cold.”
Dr Andy Whittamore, the clinical lead at the charity Asthma + Lung UK, said: “Shortening the time a child is poorly with a cold, with such an easily accessible solution such as salt-water nasal drops, will be a relief to parents and carers. The saline drops can even be made at home, are very safe for children and are easy to administer.
“Although colds are commonplace for children and rarely dangerous, in a recent survey, Asthma + Lung UK found around three in four people found colds and flu made their lung condition symptoms worse. Therefore, reducing the time someone is ill and contagious will help stop the spread of these respiratory infections.
“However, if your child is having a flare-up of their lung condition, you should follow their action plan and seek medical help.”