GOP Senator Ron Johnson Says 'Standard Gargle Mouthwash' Kills Coronavirus

[left-of-center2012]

During a virtual town hall, Republican Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson said that "standard gargle mouthwash" kills coronaviruses like COVID-19.
Scientific research and mouthwash companies do not back up his claim.

"By the way, standard gargle mouthwash, has been proven to kill the coronavirus," Johnson claimed during the Wednesday event. "If you get it, you may reduce viral replication. Why not try all these things?"

"It just boggles my mind that the National Institutes of Health tell people,
'Do nothing. Maybe take Tylenol,' (for COVID-19)" Johnson added.
......................................

Researchers have said that mouthwashes can reduce the amount of coronavirus inside of a person's mouth, helping reduce possible transmission to others. However, mouthwashes don't effectively treat or prevent COVID-19, nor are they a replacement for face masks or social distancing, according to laboratory studies cited by the wellness website Healthline.

Listerine, the best-selling mouthwash in the U.S. in 2018, has text on its website explicitly stating that "the available data is insufficient, and no evidence-based clinical conclusions can be drawn with regards to the anti-viral efficacy" of its product. "LISTERINE® Antiseptic is not intended to prevent or treat COVID-19 and should be used only as directed on the product label," the website continues. "More research is needed to understand whether the use of mouthwashes can impact viral transmission, exposure, viral entry, viral load and ultimately affect meaningful clinical outcomes."

https://www.newsweek.com/town-hall-gop-senator-ron-johnson-says-standard-gargle-mouthwash-kills-coronavirus-1657604

[RussBLib]

1. how embarrassing

it's a good thing stupidity is not illegal

[bluesbassman]

2. Obviously Johnson is drinking Listerine, old alcoholic's trick.

The guy is a moron. End of story.

[Stuart G]

3. Ron Johnson is a Fool's Fool

[milestogo]

4. ...

[Nac Mac Feegle]

5. Randall Munroe of the comic XKCD covers this quite succintly

[Wounded Bear]

6. Maybe if you snort it...

Given that coronovirus tends to thrive in the sinus and nasal passages, rinsing the mouth seems a bit ineffective against them, dontcha think?

[Zambero]

7. Mouth-breathing knuckle-draggers will be thrilled to read this

The best COVID cure since bleach injections. Paging Sarah Cooper.

[MineralMan]

8. Morons Abound! Sometimes, they even get elected to high office.

All the same, they are still morons.

[Stuart G]

9. You are correct..I will add this:" Morons Kill People."

..The previous president (directly previous to Joe Biden) was a total moron who killed people by being totally
incompetent.

[MineralMan]

10. Yes. A Serial Killer...

[XanaDUer2]

11. I remember Listerine would run ads

Claiming it could prevent colds. They had to stop.

[Paladin]

12. Nothing like washing your lungs out with Listerine.

Pretty obvious that Ron Johnson isn't playing with anything close to a full deck, anymore.

[bucolic_frolic]

13. This is opportunity

"I Gargle with Ron" buttons ... sure to be popular

[Botany]

14. Funny I thought the virus gets into you by breathing and then it goes to the lungs

I wonder if he even believes this codswollop?

[left-of-center2012]

15. Well, if you breath through your mouth ?

I guess you could have some in your mouth?

But he's still wrong about it as a cure.

[forgotmylogin]

16. Exactly. Just like hand washing.

The idea is to keep the virus off of you and prevent it from entering your body, but once it gets into your system, no external hygiene can help.

If the virus is already in your mouth where it might ostensibly get killed by antiseptic mouthwash, it's likely a bit late for mouthwash to help you.

Kind of like in a zombie movie - you put boards over the windows and doors as a last resort to keep the undead from breaching a location, but ideally you don't want them close enough to be hammering on the boarded openings because they will find a way in. You don't want invaders close to your last-resort defenses. Ideally you want to keep them at a distance with a moat or a fence.

You don't want mouthwash to be your only defense against viruses. That's like saying "I don't need bear spray in the wilderness! If a bear attacks me I have this pocket knife to fend it off!"

[WhiteTara]

17. you can now die with fresh breath.

SMDH

[Midnight Writer]

18. I always soak my black light tube in mouthwash before I shove it up my bum.

So far no Covid and my posture has improved.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

19. Even if Johnson gargled 50 times a day it wouldn't kill his viral lies or his Moscow stain. . . nt

[Celerity]

20. Listerine cigarettes might work

[andym]

21. Trials being run to see if antiseptics on nasopharyngeal/oral passages reduce infectivity

With the idea is to make people less infectious, not cure them, clinical trials to test antiseptics on nasal (nose) and oral surfaces have been and are being run. By killing virus on the surface of nasal passages, there may be less virus that could infect others, although such a treatment will not affect systemic virus, virus infecting cells below the mucosal surface, or virus that reaches the lungs. So unlikely that such an intervention would change their clinical course. The latter(no clinical improvement) is the part that Ron Johnson doesn't understand.


https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaotolaryngology/fullarticle/2775984
Unfortunately, they found no effect with Povidone iodine (PI) washes.
"Nasopharyngeal decolonization may reduce the carriage of infectious SARS-CoV-2 in adults with mild to moderate COVID-19.5 Thyroid dysfunction occurred in 42% of the patients exposed to PI, with spontaneous resolution upon treatment discontinuation, as previously reported.6 Strengths of this study include assessment of viral titer to determine whether the virus was viable and thus potentially transmissible. Limitations include the small number of patients and the single-center design. These data call for a larger clinical trial to confirm the benefit of PI in limiting the excretion and resulting human-to-human transmission of SARS-CoV-2, using lower PI concentrations to minimize adverse effects."

There is a clinical trial ongoing:
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04802408
"This is a prospective, randomized, controlled, 2x2 factorial, phase 2/phase 3 trial to compare the impact of a 4-day intervention of nasal washes with 1% baby shampoo solution and/or oropharyngeal gargles with Listerine Antiseptic® solution compared to that of nasal washes with buffered saline solution and/or oropharyngeal rinses with saline solution on naso-oropharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 viral load in a population of adults (aged 18-65 years) with SARS-CoV-2 infection diagnosed within 5 days who are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic for COVID-19 disease."

[Ohio Joe]

22. This asshole is not stupid or a moron... He's a fucking murderer

He knows full well what he is saying is not only bullshit but will get people killed. At this point, this shit should be prosecuted as a crime.

[Hekate]

23. Just be sure to slurp it up your nose, then

And don’t forget to stick that light bulb where the sun don’t shine