Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-2023
Identifier
DOI: 10.1016/j.clinpr.2023.100230; PMCID: PMC10163789
Abstract
Persons suffering from acute upper respiratory tract viral infections (URTI) commonly use over the counter (OTC) medicines to relieve symptoms such as fever, muscle aches, cough, runny nose, sore throat and nasal congestion. At present OTC medicines are only licensed for treatment of common cold and flu symptoms and not for treatment of the same symptoms associated with COVID-19. The innate immune response responsible for the mechanisms of the symptoms of URTI is the same for all respiratory viruses including SARS-CoV-2 and these symptoms can be relieved by treatment with the same OTC medicines as available for treatment of colds and flu. This review provides scientific information that OTC treatments for common cold and flu-like illness caused by respiratory viruses are safe and effective treatments for the same symptoms associated with COVID-19.
Journal Title
Clin Infect Pract
Volume
19
First Page
100230
Last Page
100230
PubMed ID
37197288
Recommended Citation
Eccles R, Boivin G, Cowling BJ, Pavia A, Selvarangan R. Treatment of COVID-19 symptoms with over the counter (OTC) medicines used for treatment of common cold and flu. Clin Infect Pract. 2023;19:100230. doi:10.1016/j.clinpr.2023.100230
Comments
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC-BY license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Publisher's Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590170223000134?via%3Dihub