Health officials made a public health announcement you need to hear.
A painkiller that’s in everyone’s medicine cabinet is making the crisis worse.
There’s one common over-the-counter drug that makes COVID-19 worse.
There are many people spreading information on the Chinese coronavirus that started in Wuhan, China in November.
Currently, there have been approximately 220,000 cases worldwide and 9,000 deaths.
Researchers are furiously trying to discover not just a vaccine, but also what medicines work to best alleviate symptoms and what treatments are counterproductive.
There is a lot of information out there on the internet; some of that information is useful while other information is not.
Part of the problem with this novel virus is there hasn’t been much of a chance to study the virus yet and most of the information coming out of China, where the epidemic started, is questionable.
Some general rules are still safe to apply — wash your hands, cough into your elbow, don’t go out when sick.
But scientists are starting to figure out which treatments work and which don’t.
Health officials are now recommending that ibuprofen should not be taken to treat coronavirus symptoms.
According to Fox News:
A World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson recommended this week that those suffering from the symptoms of COVID-19 avoid taking ibuprofen.
The suggestion came after French officials warned that the drug could actually worsen the effects of the virus.
When asked about the study, WHO spokesman Christian Lindemeier told reporters in Geneva that United Nations health agency experts were “looking into this to give further guidance.”
“In the meantime, we recommend using [paracetamol], and do not use ibuprofen as a self-medication. That’s important,” he said, according to the AFP.
However, WHO spokeswoman Ashley Baldwin told Fox News in an email that the WHO is “gathering further evidence” before making a formal recommendation, and that she was not aware of any “clinical or population-based data on this topic.”
French Health Minister Olivier Veran sent out a warning after a recent study published in The Lancet medical journal found that when combined with anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen, an enzyme could facilitate more COVID-19 infections and worsen symptoms.
There have been no studies to confirm whether the French are indeed correct in their recommendation.
It’s too early for studies to have been completed on effective treatments, even the government is making guesses at the moment.
The safest course of action at the moment is to ask a medical professional whether taking ibuprofen is the right choice.
According to Mayo Clinic, there’s no cause for concern if an adult has a fever that’s under 103 degrees Fahrenheit, and in fact a fever has been shown to help activate certain immune system functions.
A good doctor or nurse will be able to make decisions based not only on the basic current data but also on the symptoms of the patient.
More refined treatment will become increasingly available as more research is completed.
