The French health minister has issued a warning against using ibruprofen to reduce coronavirus symptoms, but experts cannot seem to agree on official advice.
A plethora of fake news stories have been spread recently concerning the coronavirus, one of which began circulating on Whatsapp on Saturday.
The false story cited a non-existent study by the Vienna MediUni, which said that symptoms of Covid-19 worsened if patients were taking anti-inflammatories such as ibruprofen.
The university released a statement refuting the story and confirmed no such study had taken place.
Uni Wien
There is equally no scientific proof that blood pressure medication affects the virus.
Coronavirus - Experten: Kein Beleg für Negativeffekt von Medikamenten
In conjunction with this, French health minister Olivier Véran advised in a tweet on Sunday that patients should use paracetamol to reduce symptoms of fever, rather than ibruprofen or cortisone.
Véran, a qualified doctor, said anti-inflammatories could aggravate symptoms, but that patients should consult their own doctors in case of concerns.
Olivier Véran
