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The French Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, published this Saturday a short tweet that quickly went viral. In it, he recommended taking paracetamol in case of fever, because anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen, "could aggravate the infection," he said.

The message, shared by nearly 40,000 people , said that these types of drugs could worsen the prognosis for coronavirus infection. However, several experts consulted by EL MUNDO agree that it is premature to make that statement.

"At this time, there are no scientific data to confirm that ibuprofen aggravates the coronavirus infection , " says Miguel Marcos, specialist in Internal Medicine at the University Hospital of Salamanca.

"There are no published trials yet," agrees Lorenzo Armenteros, president of the Spanish Society of Family Physicians (SEMG).

Yes, it is true, both experts point out, that paracetamol, at the recommended doses, generally has fewer side effects than non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen. Therefore, unless paracetamol cannot be taken for any other reason, "in general, to control the mild symptoms of any infection, it is more appropriate to opt for this type of analgesic," adds Amaya Jimeno, infectious specialist at the Health Service of Murcia.

Véran's claim stems from an alert launched in 2019 by the French Medicines Agency, which associated the use of drugs such as ibuprofen or ketoprofen with a worse prognosis for infections such as otitis, tonsillitis or skin infections. In this sense, the French body requested an investigation into these effects from the European Medicines Agency.

One of the mechanisms that would explain this relationship is the effect of ibuprofen on the enzyme ACE2 (converting angiotensin 2). The drug would increase the expansion of this enzyme, one of the proteins that the virus uses as a point of attachment to cells, which would facilitate infection. In any case, this hypothesis is awaiting validation.

Today, the recommendation of the French Minister should not raise alarm, agree the experts consulted. "If any patient is taking an anti-inflammatory chronically for any reason, such as acetylsalicylic acid, you should not stop it without talking to your doctor," Marcos warns.

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