Could pain and fever medication affect our reaction to Covid?
New research has made some surprise findings about common pain and fever medication and its impact on infections like COVID-19.
A team of Australian pain researchers combed through studies that evaluated the effects of these medications - which include morphine, paracetamol, and aspirin - on the immune system, as well as the effects they have on a person’s risk of infection.
Dr Christina Abdel-Shaheed, the lead author on the review and a pain researcher at the University of Sydney, said the team were initially interested in studying the possible impacts of paracetamol during the coronavirus pandemic as people began hoarding the medication during the early months of the pandemic.
Instead, they made several findings related to several other conditions, including chicken pox and Covid, and in relation to vaccination.
“Our review shows some of the common pain and fever medications may work with the immune system to fight infection, whereas others work against it and increase the risk of contracting or responding badly to infectious diseases,” Dr Abdel-Shaheed said.
For example, they found that aspirin could be an affordable and accessible treatment option for tuberculosis, while morphine increases the risk of infection, particularly after cancer surgery, because it suppresses key cells in the immune system.
Dr Justin Beardsley, an infectious disease researcher at Westmead Hospital and the Sydney Institute for Infectious Diseases, said this was an important finding as morphine is one of the most commonly used drugs in post-surgical care.
He noted that its effect of increasing the risk of infection is particularly important for cancer patients and immunocompromised patients in general “who are already vulnerable to COVID-19”.
“Taking paracetamol or ibuprofen before or immediately after vaccination - for example for COVID-19 - to try and prevent mild fever or headache is not recommended, because this could reduce the body’s desirable immune response to the vaccine,” Dr Abdel-Shaheed explained.
“For chickenpox, the use of ibuprofen is not recommended as it might increase the risk of secondary bacterial skin infections.”
Professor Ric Day, a co-author from UNSW and St Vincent’s Hospital, said research in this area was still catching up and that investigating these medications could have considerable impacts.
“One of the problems is that widely used medicines - such as paracetamol, nonsteroidal and anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen, and corticosteroids such as prednisone - have been around for decades and in the past we didn’t tend to consider their impacts on the immune system because it has been an under-recognised area,” he said.
“From community use to hospital and acute care, these classes of pain and fever medications are among the most popular drugs worldwide but we need to consider the significant impact these can have on our immune system and our response to infectious diseases, including COVID-19.”
The clinical review was published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.
Image: Getty Images