Geneva
The World Health Organization recommended Tuesday that people suffering from COVID-19-like symptoms should avoid self-medicating with ibuprofen, after French authorities warned anti-inflammatory drugs could worsen the effects of the virus. The warnings over the weekend by French Health Minister Olivier Veran followed a recent study in The Lancet weekly medical journal that hypothesised that an enzyme that is boosted when taking anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen could facilitate and worsen COVID-19 infections.
Asked about the study, WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told reporters in Geneva that the UN health agency’s experts were ‘looking into this to give further guidance.’ ‘In the meantime, we recommend using rather paracetamol, and do not use ibuprofen as a self-medication. That’s important,’ he said.
He stressed though that if ibuprofen had been ‘prescribed by the healthcare professionals, then, of course, that’s up to them.
Some Cabinet members joined it via video conferencing from the administrative town of Sejong, 130 kilometers south of Seoul.’—APP
