Can cheap antidepressants also cure COVID-19? Research: Fluvoxamine may reduce the risk of severe illness

CNN reported on October 28 that a large study found that an inexpensive antidepressant can reduce the risk of severe COVID-19 in people at high risk.

The peer-reviewed study was published in The Lancet Global Health. The researchers found that fluvoxamine, used to treat depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder, reduced the need to keep COVID-19 emergency patients in hospital or transfer to another hospital.

A trial of about 1500 patients conducted in Brazil reportedly showed that people taking the drug fluvoxamine were less likely to develop a serious illness and need hospitalization. Of those, 741 patients who took 100 mg of the drug twice a day required a long stay or hospitalization in the emergency department, while 119 of the 756 patients who received a placebo required hospitalization.

However, Penny Ward, a visiting professor of pharmaceutical medicine at King's College London, also said the study had limitations, particularly on the impact on more severe conditions. She added that the level of protection provided in breakthrough cases is uncertain because the experiment does not include people who have already been vaccinated.