The medicine experts say not to take if you get Coronavirus

The spread of the latest upper respiratory virus out of China is still ongoing, with reports of upwards of 64,000 confirmed cases globally and at least 1,383 deaths from Coronavirus.

Yet, so far in the U.S., we’ve been lucky.

Just 15 people have tested positive for the virus so far, although we’re not out of the woods yet.

In fact, doctors from the prestigious Johns Hopkins have vocally warned that not only is the virus here to stay, we should expect and prepare for seasonal outbreaks from now on.

According to Johns Hopkins senior scholar Dr. Amesh Adalja, “It’s going to become a part of our seasonal respiratory virus family that causes disease.” And, he expects the current outbreak to spread even further in our country before this round is over.

This means that we all need to know how to distinguish between the virus, flu, and cold if we get sick, and how to protect ourselves from Coronavirus…

That means being cautious about a common medication that could actually make things worse…

Commonly given for upper respiratory infections

Brand new information from researchers at the University of Edinburgh is giving us one more thing to keep at the forefront of our minds when it comes to Coronavirus…

A common type of medicine could do you more harm than good if you end up with a virus.

The medication we’re talking about is steroids.

UPDATE: Why is the coronavirus so hard to contain

Good old fashioned steroids that are commonly prescribed when you go to the doctor with an upper respiratory infection in order to help relieve symptoms and decrease inflammation of the lining of the nose and throat.

Unfortunately, according to the Edinburgh research team, using these drugs in the case of Coronavirus could backfire.

Here’s why…

Immune system suppression

The researchers analyzed evidence from previous outbreaks of similar types of infection such as SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome).

The outbreaks of both of these diseases were also caused by coronaviruses, similar to the one that has created the current global health crisis.

And, the researchers say that while steroids are often used to reduce inflammation, which is present in the lungs of patients with the new novel Coronavirus, as well as SARS and MERS, doctors need to think again.

That’s because in addition to fighting inflammation, steroids also impair your immune system’s ability to fight viruses and other infections that often develop when you have a life-threatening illness.

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In fact, one retrospective study of critically-ill patients with MERS found that almost half of the people that received steroids needed additional treatments such as assistance in breathing (being put on a ventilator), drugs to increase blood pressure, and a form of dialysis.

In other words, their condition went from bad to worse after the steroids were administered.

And, if that weren’t enough, those given steroids were also found to take longer to clear the virus from their bodies so they stayed sick longer.

Those findings were backed up by additional studies that found that steroids caused harm in the SARS outbreak and that people who were given the medication still tested positive with the virus up to three weeks after infection.

According to Dr. J. Kenneth Baillie, lead author of the article and Academic Consultant in Critical Care Medicine at University of Edinburgh, “During this current coronavirus outbreak clinicians are faced with some tough decisions on how to treat people who have been infected. After looking carefully at what evidence is available, we would advise that steroids should not be used for treatment of lung injury caused by this new virus.”

In fact, the experts are warning not to let your doctor give you steroids if you get Coronavirus thanks to their potential to do “significant harm.”

Sources:

1. Johns Hopkins doctor says new coronavirus is here to stay, expects ‘seasonal’ outbreaks mdash; CNBC
2. Coronavirus live updates mdash; CNN
3. Steroids could do more harm than good in treating coronavirus mdash; University of Edinburgh
4. Steroids for the common cold — Cochrane