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Excerpts:

https://twitter.com/KittySn52889207/status/1240233229010874368?s=19

Both paracetamol and ibuprofen can bring a temperature down and help with flu-like symptoms. But ibuprofen and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are not suitable for everyone and can cause side-effects – especially for people with asthma, heart and circulatory problems.
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False stories

But whatever the advice, there’s still been a great deal of misinformation online. Bogus messages have been circulating on WhatsApp claiming that:

• “There are four young people in an intensive care unit in Cork who have no underlying illnesses – all were taking anti-inflammatories and there are concerns this has caused a more severe illness” (false)

• The University of Vienna has sent a memo warning people with coronavirus symptoms not to take ibuprofen, “because it has been discovered that it increases the speed of reproduction of the coronavirus Covid-19 in the body and this is the reason why people in Italy have reached the current bad stage and rapid spread” (false)

• “At the university hospital in Toulouse, France, there are four very critical cases of coronavirus in [young people] who do not have any health problems. Their problem is that when they all appeared to have symptoms, they all took painkillers like ibuprofen” (false)

These stories circulating on WhatsApp are also appearing on different platforms including Instagram.

Commonly these kinds of copied-and-pasted texts will claim to be from someone the forwarder says they know, often with a medical background.

All these claims are false

The Infectious Diseases Society of Ireland said a WhatsApp message circulating about coronavirus patients in Cork is “a fake message”, asking anyone who receives it to “ignore and delete”.
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So what do we know about ibuprofen and Covid-19?

There has been no research into ibuprofen and the new coronavirus (Covid-19).

But there has been some for other respiratory infections, suggesting ibuprofen is linked to more complications and more severe illness – although we don’t know that the ibuprofen itself is causing this, according to Paul Little, a professor of primary care research at University of Southampton.

Some experts believe that ibuprofen’s anti-inflammatory properties may “dampen” the body’s immune response.

Prof Parastou Donyai at the University of Reading says: “There are many studies that suggest ibuprofen use during a respiratory infection can result in worsening of the disease or other complications.”

But, she says, “I have not seen any scientific evidence that clearly shows a totally healthy 25 year old taking ibuprofen for symptoms of COVID-19 is putting themselves at additional risk of complications.”

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The spreading of rumours has led to confusion

Worries over the use of ibuprofen appear to have surfaced in France, after Jean-Louis Montastruc, a doctor at Toulouse University Hospital warned on Twitter that: “In this period of coronavirus, it is necessary to remember the risk of complications of the NSAIDs in case of fever or infection.”

A subsequent tweet by France’s health minister, Olivier Veran, saying that anti-inflammatory drugs “could be an aggravating factor of the infection” was shared more than 43,000 times. But he also said people should consult a doctor before stopping taking them.

Other tweets are also being shared including one saying that ibuprofen “may cause severe cases of the disease, even in young and middle-aged adults with no underlying conditions” which has been shared more than 94,000 times on Twitter.

https://www.bbc.com/news/51929628

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