Oral mouthwash used to eradicate gonorrhoea 2 study

OMEGA 2 looked at whether an antiseptic mouthwash can be used for an alternative treatment for throat gonorrhoea without using antibiotics.

Men were randomised to the intervention (rinsing, gargling and spraying mouthwash twice daily for 14 days) or control (standard treatment) arm and followed for 28 days.

This trial stopped early due to a high failure rate in the mouthwash arm. Twelve men were randomly assigned to either mouthwash (n = 6) or standard treatment (n = 6). Of the 11 men who returned at Day 14, the cure rate for oropharyngeal gonorrhoea in the mouthwash arm was 20% (95% CI 1–72%; 1/5) and in the standard treatment arm was 100% (95% CI 54–100%; 6/6). A 14-day course of mouthwash failed to cure a high proportion of oropharyngeal gonorrhoea cases.