Israeli researchers say aspirin lowers likelihood of getting virus

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Why do some people contract COVID-19 while others remain virus-free? A group of Israeli researchers decided to do a study to find out.

According to the researchers, aspirin is a safe, established, inexpensive medication that has commonly been used for a long time to prevent and treat cardiovascular diseases. Previously, it was well known in treating and providing relief from pain and reduction of fever. In addition, the use of aspirin was extremely popular during the 1918 Spanish Influenza pandemic, a few decades before in-vitro confirmation of its activity against RNA viruses. Other studies determined that aspirin, which had anti-inflammatory effects, could also modulate the body’s immune responses, thereby helping the human immune system to fight off certain viral infections.

Bearing this information about aspirin in mind, Israeli researchers theorized that pre-infection treatment with low-dose aspirin (75 mg) use could have a possible beneficial effect on COVID-19 susceptibility and duration. A joint research team from the HMO Leumit Health Services, Bar-Ilan University, and Barzilai Medical Center performed an observational epidemiological study that used data from Leumit Health Services. The research team’s findings were recently published in The FEBS Journal (The use of aspirin for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease is associated with a lower likelihood of COVID-19 infection).

The Israeli researchers analyzed data from 10,477 people who had been tested for the disease during the first COVID-19 wave in Israel from February 1, 2020, to June 30, 2020. Using aspirin to ward off the development of cardiovascular diseases in healthy individuals was associated with a 29 percent lower likelihood of COVID-19 infection, as compared with people who did not use the aspirin regimen.

The researchers determined that the proportion of patients who were treated with aspirin was significantly lower among the COVID-19-positive individuals, as compared with the COVID-19-negative ones. In addition, those subjects who had been treated with aspirin were less associated with the likelihood of COVID-19 infection than those who were not. The research group also found that the conversion time of SARS-CoV-2 PCR test results from positive to negative among aspirin-using COVID-positive patients was significantly shorter, and the disease duration was two to three days shorter, depending on the patients’ pre-existing conditions.

Prof. Eli Magen from the Barzilai Medical Center, who led the study, said, “This observation of the possible beneficial effect of low doses of aspirin on COVID-19 infection is preliminary but seems very promising.” 

Dr. Eugene Merzon from Leumit Health Services, the principal investigator in the study, emphasized the importance of repeating the study results using larger samples, as well as including patients from other hospitals and countries, to verify the results.

Dr. Milana Frenkel-Morgenstern, of the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine of Bar-Ilan University, concluded, “The present study sought to better understand the potential favorable effects of aspirin in aiding the human immune system to battle COVID-19. We intend to investigate a larger cohort of patients and in randomized clinical trials.”

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