Israeli researchers recently published a study called Ibuprofen Use And Clinical Outcomes In COVID-19 Patients which showed that ibuprofen does not exacerbate coronavirus symptoms. French Health Minister Olivier Veran stated in March that people with the coronavirus should avoid using anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen, saying that they could aggravate the effects of the virus, recommending that paracetamol (also known as acetaminophen) should be used instead. However, later in March, the World Health Organization (WHO) and other leading health organizations around the world, including the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), said that there was no evidence that ibuprofen could worsen coronavirus symptoms. Following the French health minister’s claim, researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Be’er Sheva conducted a study to compare the outcomes of coronavirus patients who used ibuprofen versus those who used paracetamol. Ibuprofen and paracetamol are both antipyretics (drugs to prevent or reduce fever) and painkillers but ibuprofen is also an anti-inflammatory and is metabolized in the kidneys while paracetamol is metabolized in the liver. The study, which was published the Clinical Microbiology and Infection journal, evaluuated 403 coronavirus patients at the Shamir Medical Center in Be’er Yaakov and found that patients who used ibuprofen has similar outcomes to those who took paracetamol. The patients in both groups (ibuprofen vs. paracetamol) were similarly matched by age and gender. The researchers stated that they “did not observe an increased risk for mortality or the need for respiratory support in patients treated with ibuprofen.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

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