There is no evidence contraindicating NSAIDs for the care of patients with Covid-19 infection, according to UK researchers.
A range of other drugs, such as TNF blockers and JAK inhibitors, appear safe to use, according to the London-based research team, based at King’s College.
Meanwhile low amounts of prednisolone and tacrolimus may be helpful in the care of these patients, according to the analysis published in ecancermedicalscience.
The researchers examined 89 studies on other coronavirus strains such as MERS and SARs and also the "limited" emerging literature on Covid-19.
Researcher Dr Sophie Papa, a medical oncologist and immunologist said: "Current evidence suggests that low dose prednisolone (a steroid used to treat allergies) and tacrolimus therapy (an immunosuppressive drug given to patients who have had an organ transplant) may have beneficial impact on the course of coronavirus infections. However further investigation is needed."
Fellow analyst Dr Mieke Van Hemelrijck, a cancer epidemiologist, said "This pandemic has led to challenging decision-making about the treatment of COVID-19 patients who were already critically unwell. In parallel, doctors across multiple specialties are making clinical decisions about the appropriate continuation of treatments for patients with chronic illnesses requiring immune suppressive medication."
* Meanwhile German scientists have proposed a method for pool testing to increase the worldwide testing capacity for SARS-Cov2 infection.
The researchers at the Institute for Medical Virology at the University Hospital Frankfurt at Goethe University say they have successfully developed a "mini-pool" system, allowing batches of five samples to be cleared of infection.
Associations between immune-suppressive and stimulating drugs and novel COVID-19—a systematic review of current evidence. Ecancermedicalscience 27 March 2020
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