At the start of the pandemic, it was believed that certain drugs could worsen the symptoms of Covid-19. A study shows that this is actually not the case.
A year ago, very little was known about SARS-CoV-2. Research and knowledge about this coronavirus is advancing every day, and that’s a good thing. We thus discover thanks to a study published on Saturday, May 8, 2021 in the journal The Lancet Rheumatology that, contrary to what was believed at the start of the pandemic, drugs of the ibuprofen family do not worsen the infection, reports AFP.
The conclusion of this study is that “The use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is not associated with increased mortality or severity of Covid-19”. Led by the British health authorities, it shows that these drugs, widely used for pain and fever, are safe if you have the coronavirus. To make sure, the researchers looked at data from 72,000 Covid patients admitted to 255 healthcare facilities across the UK between January and August 2020, of whom 4,211 had taken a drug from this family before being hospitalized.
“At the time of hospital admission, we did not observe any significant difference between the two groups in terms of the severity of the patients’ condition”, explain the researchers. They also note that the proportion of deaths is equivalent between those who had taken these drugs and those who had not taken them, with rates of 30.4% and 31.3%. This allows Professor Ewen Harrisson of the University of Edinburgh, lead author of the study, to state in a press release that “we now have clear evidence that NSAIDs can be used safely in patients who have Covid-19 “. Reassuring information, given that “NSAIDs are widely used around the world in a variety of situations, ranging from mild pain to treatment of chronic disease.” and “many people rely on them to be able to carry out their daily activities.”
However, Professor Harrisson indicates that the study has its limits since the team of researchers does not know for how long the patients had taken NSAIDs, or whether they were consuming them in the long term due to chronic diseases or only. for temporary problems.