Listerine for Gonorrhea? It's Not Just for Gums Anymore [STUDY]

A new study conducted in Australia finds that the bacteria which cause gonorrhea can be found in a person's throat, and stopping the growth of these germs may be as simple as gargling with mouthwash.

The idea that mouthwash could kill certain bacteria is not new, as the new study noted that Listerine advertised that it could cure gonorrhea as far back as 1879.

However,  no scientific studies have tried to assess it, in the hundred-plus years since the company made the claim, the authors wrote in their new study, which was published December 20 in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections.

Gonorrhea is caused by the bacteria Neisseria gonorrhoeae.  Eric Chow, a research fellow at the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre in Australia wrote in the study that the rates of gonorrhea have more than doubled in men in Australia over the last five years, and up to 70 percent of the cases are in men who are sexually active.

According to the statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States gonorrhea rates have also increased in recent years. There were 110.7 cases in every 100,000 people in 2014, which was an increase of 5.1 percent when compared to 2013, and 10.5 percent increase compared to 2010.

The researchers noted that it is unclear whether fighting the gonorrhea found in the throats of infected persons could also reduce the rates of gonorrhea infections in other parts of the body, such as the urethra.

However, previous studies on the topic have suggested that the infection found in the throat is the source of the urethral and anal infections.

The researchers carried out two experiments to test if Listerine could indeed kill Neisseria gonorrhoeae. In the first experiment, the researchers tested if two Listerine products, Cool Mint and Total Care, could stop the growth of the bacteria in petri dishes.

According to Daily Health Advisors, they chose these two Listerine products because of their alcohol content, which according to the researchers' hypothesis, would inhibit the growth of the bacteria.

The Listerine products were tested in various dilutions, and the researchers found that a ratio one-to-four (1:4) of either Listerine product to water was sufficient to stop the growth of the bacteria after one minute.

The researchers also conducted a test to check the effect of Listerine in 58 men who tested positive for gonorrhea. The men were asked to use Listerine Cool Mint or a saltwater solution to rinse and gargle for one minute.

The researchers retested the men's throats for gonorrhea after five minutes, and discovered that the men who gargled with Listerine were 80 percent less likely to test positive for gonorrhea than those who used the saltwater solution, according to Seekers.

But the location of the infection in the throat seems to play a crucial role in how well the mouthwash worked as it was more effective in killing bacteria on the tonsils than bacteria farther down in the throat.

The researchers stated that the study is small, and larger studies are needed to confirm the results. It is also unclear if the mouthwash had a short-lived effect as the researchers retested the men only 5 minutes after they used the mouthwash. The researchers also recommend that further studies should look at the effects of daily mouthwash use.