French authorities have warned that widely used over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs may worsen the coronavirus, the Guardian reports.
The country’s health minister, Olivier Véran, who is a qualified doctor and neurologist, tweeted on Saturday that taking anti-inflammatories like Advil and Motrin “could be a factor in aggravating the infection. In case of fever, take paracetamol (known as Tylenol). If you are already taking anti-inflammatory drugs, ask your doctor’s advice.”
Health officials point out that anti-inflammatory drugs are known to be a risk for those with infectious illnesses because they tend to diminish the response of the body’s immune system.
The health ministry added that patients should choose paracetamol – which is known in the US by the generic name acetaminophen and commonly by the brand name Tylenol – because “it will reduce the fever without counterattacking the inflammation”.
The CDC disputes these claims from the French government
Prof Ian Jones, Virologist at the University of Reading, said: “The advice relates to Ibuprofen’s anti-inflammatory properties, that is, it dampens down the immune system, which may slow the recovery process. In addition, it is likely, based on the substantial literature around SARS I and the similarities this new virus (SARS-CoV-2) has to SARS I, that the virus reduces a key enzyme which part-regulates the water and salt concentration in the blood and could be part of the pneumonia seen in extreme cases. Ibuprofen aggravates this while paracetamol does not. It is recommended that people use paracetamol to reduce temperature… Read more »
This “warning” is complete garbage and does NOT come from the French government. Reports in major news sources that it does are fake news.
It does seem to make sense because the inflammatory response is necessary for healing of wounds, for example, or maybe in this case the scarring of lungs c”v. That’s why it is recommended Not to take anti inflammatory or even Arnica cream directly after an injury but to wait a day or so.
I had fever 100.5 and after advil it went up to 102, then after tylonel it went down to 99.
TAKE TYLONEL ONLY!!!!!!