Hi everyone- I know you all work in nhs so likely to know this already but just in case you don’t this alert is from my pal who is a pharmacist locally in Yorkshire . See below
Message from my pal who is a pharmacist locally see below:
We have just been sent a medical alert that no one is to use anti inflammatories (eg ibuprofen , Voltarol, naproxen and there are others) for pain or high temperature. Use paracetamol instead. There seems to be a link between severe cases of covid19 affecting people with no underlying illnesses and taking anti inflammatories. Initial reports started coming from French Drs on Friday. This has been confirmed by infectious diseases consultants here - there are 4 people in ICU in Cork who have no underlying illnesses - all were taking anti inflammatories and there are concerns this has caused a more severe illness. We have been asked to spread the message. French tv and radio apparently broadcast the same warning today.
One of the factors was that most Italian patients took ibuprofen at home. They combine the virus and ibuprofen in the laboratory and came to the conclusion that the administration of ibuprofen accelerates the multiplication of the virus and that it is related to a more serious course of the disease. They recommend avoiding ibuprofen and other NSAIDS for fever, I guess similar to the association of aspirin in chicken pox leading to Reye's syndrome.