The Effect of Nasal Irrigation on COVID-19 Patient’s Mild Symptoms of Respiratory Tract

Abstract

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona virus-2 (SARS CoV-2) is a virus that causes covid-19. The initial symptoms put forward by WHO since 2020 is fever accompanied by cough and shortness of breath. Currently, the loss of smell and taste, accompanied by other symptoms, tends to be a strong predictor of COVID-19. The nose is the entrance for air, that's why the nose has an important role in the breathing process. In addition to warming, humidifying, and filtering incoming air, the nose can also maintain respiratory tract homeostasis. The use of nasal irrigation with isotonic saline solution (NaCl 0.9%) is a way to improve mucociliary clearance function by activating cilia as an olfactory sensory system.
 
 AIM OF THE STUDY: To evaluate the effect of nasal irrigation to covid patients who has mild symptoms in the upper respiratory tract
 
 METHODOLOGY: The purpose of this study was to see the effectiveness of nasal irrigation using 0.9% NaCl in COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms, by looking at the average duration of time complaints felt by patients compared to those without nasal irrigation intervention 
 
 RESULTS: This study found a significant difference (p-value = 0.000) between the control group and the intervention group where the mean duration of symptoms in the intervention group was shorter than the control group.
 
 CONCLUSION: anosmia is a symptom in covid-19 which is almost always accompanied by symptoms of loss of taste, various theories on the cause of anosmia have been put forward since the covid-19 pandemic broke out. Improvements in symptom duration were found to be shorter in COVID-19 patients who performed nasal irrigation using 0.9% NaCl independently for 10 days so that in the future it is hoped that nasal irrigation will become part of the comprehensive management of COVID-19 patients who have mild symptoms, especially symptoms related to nasal and upper respiratory complaints.