Competing views on whether anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen can increase the risk of contracting the coronavirus or worsen its effects has many experts urging suffers to avoid taking the medication — for now.

While there is relatively little scientific evidence on the issue, anecdotal reports suggest possible negative consequences.

French Health Minister Olivier Veran recently issued a warning that COVID-19 patients should avoid taking anti-inflammatory drugs because some French patients suffered serious side effects.

The warning included advice from the French ministry, according to, NPR.org , to use acetaminophen, the generic name for Tylenol, instead to reduce fevers and aches.

This alert was backed by an article published in the prestigious journal, The Lancet, that postulated the how certain medications, including ibuprofen, may increase the risk and severity of CPOVID-19.

Researchers say that the virus attacks the lungs by attaching itself to a certain enzyme called the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). The Lancet suggests that ibuprofen and other medications increase the number of ACE2 receptors, increasing the risk of infection.

Most medical experts interviewed by NPR.org say that the evidence against ibuprofen may be preliminary, but suggest that taking Tylenol is the most prudent choice.

Dr. Krutika Kuppalli, an infectious disease physician with the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security says that she always tells her patients to take Tylenol for fever “Because its mechanism is thought to affect the temperature regulating center of the brain.”

And Dr. Angela Rogers, a pulmonologist at the Stanford University Medical Center and chair of its task force on COVID-19, says Tylenol is the go-to medication for patients hospitalized for infection.

She says this population is at great risk for damage to their internal organs, especially the kidney, and it is well known that ibuprofen can caused kidney damage in high doses for some patients. She says that Tylenol, in low doses, is “very effective” for reducing fever and “very safe.”

According to Healthline most people don’t suffer any side effects from Tylenol. However, longterm use could cause liver damage.

Rogers advises patients at home to way their options.

“We don’t have a lot of evidence in this disease in general,” she says, adding that the science behind ibuprofen increasing risk for the virus is debatable. “If people have no liver disease and it makes them feel a little more secure to start with Tylenol first, that might be a reasonable way to do it.