Treatment of COVID-19 symptoms with over the counter (OTC) medicines used for treatment of common cold and flu

Ronald Eccles; Guy Boivin; Benjamin J Cowling; Andrew Pavia; Rangaraj Selvarangan

doi:10.1016/j.clinpr.2023.100230

Treatment of COVID-19 symptoms with over the counter (OTC) medicines used for treatment of common cold and flu

Clin Infect Pract. 2023 Jul:19:100230. doi: 10.1016/j.clinpr.2023.100230. Epub 2023 May 6.

Authors

Ronald Eccles¹, Guy Boivin², Benjamin J Cowling³, Andrew Pavia⁴, Rangaraj Selvarangan⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, UK.
² Université Laval, Quebec City, QC, Canada.
³ School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
⁴ Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
⁵ University of Missouri School of Medicine, Kansas City, MO, USA.

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.

Publication types

Review