Ibuprofen and COVID-19
Take home message
Ibuprofen should be avoided to treat symptoms of COVID-19 infection until further notice (unless told otherwise by your doctor). Further studies are required but best to be cautious until then.
Use paracetamol as the first-line drug if you have COVID-19 symptoms unless if your doctor tells you otherwise.
Don’t stop any recommended/prescribed treatments without discussing with a doctor.
Source
Stories are circulating online that recommended against taking ibuprofen (a type of non-steroidal inflammatory drugs) if you have symptoms of COVID-19.
This theory gained publicity following advice from the French Health Minister, Oliver Veran who advised French people showing symptoms of COVID-19 to take paracetamol (acetaminophen) instead of ibuprofen as it might worsen the condition. He said “Taking anti-inflammatory drugs (ibuprofen, cortisone . . .) could be an aggravating factor for the infection. If you have a fever, take paracetamol’.
The comments, in part, have been attributed to remarks by an infectious diseases doctor in south-west France. Reportedly, four young patients with no underlying health problems who had contracted COVID-19 developed serious symptoms after using non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in the early stage of their symptoms. The hospital replied stating due to patient confidentiality individual cases could not be discussed in public.
National Health Service (NHS) UK comments
According to the National Health Service (NHS) UK, there is currently no strong evidence to support that Ibuprofen can make COVID-19 worse.
But until we have more information, take paracetamol to treat the symptoms of coronavirus, unless your doctor has told you paracetamol is not suitable for you.
If you are already taking ibuprofen or another non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) on the advice of a doctor, do not stop taking it without checking first.
Research studies and expert opinion
There are currently no studies into COVID-19 and Ibuprofen or other NSAIDs.
But Paul Little, a professor of primary care research at the University of Southampton, said that there was good evidence about other respiratory infections, “that prolonged illness or the complications of respiratory infections may be more common when NSAIDs are used—both respiratory or septic complications and cardiovascular complications.”
He also said, “The finding in two randomised trials that advice to use ibuprofen results in more severe illness or complications helps confirm that the association seen in observational studies is indeed likely to be causal. Advice to use paracetamol is also less likely to result in complications.”
Ian Jones, a professor of virology at the University of Reading, said that ibuprofen’s anti-inflammatory properties could “dampen down” the immune system, which could slow the recovery process. He added that it was likely, based on similarities between the new virus (SARS-CoV-2) and SARS I, that COVID-19 reduces a key enzyme that part regulates the water and salt concentration in the blood and could contribute to the pneumonia seen in extreme cases. “Ibuprofen aggravates this, while paracetamol does not,” he said.
References
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/self-isolation-advice/