Saltwater spray could help control disease outbreaks

Simply inhaling a saltwater spray could help prevent the spread of diseases including flu and tuberculosis.

U.S. and German researchers have found that a saline spray, administered using a device called a jet nebulizer, reduced the number of germ-spreading droplets released in coughs by as much as 70% for six hours.

The findings, published online last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could provide a way to help control epidemics such as the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome that spread globally and killed many healthcare workers helping patients.

The findings might also help control any global influenza pandemic, which could kill millions.

Researchers at Harvard University and at biotechnology firms Pulmatrix and Inamed tested 11 volunteers, measuring how many particles they released when coughing.

After the volunteers inhaled a salt spray via the nebulizer for six minutes, those prone to producing the most droplets saw a reduction of as much as 70%, the researchers said.

The saline seems to affect the surface tension of fluid inside the lungs, the researchers found. Surface tension is a physical property of fluids that allows some bugs to walk on water, for instance, and that causes water to form droplets.