Shock finding on paracetamol

New research that looked at the impact of taking pain medication like Pandaol after getting vaccinated has made an unexpected finding.

Taking paracetamol, ibuprofen or aspirin straight after getting jabbed may reduce the body's immune response to vaccinations, including for Covid-19, significant new research suggests.

The University of Sydney study found that taking these common pain medications immediately before or after getting vaccinated could reduce their effectiveness.

Lead author Christina Abdel-Shaheed described the clinical review of more than 170 studies as the most important research she had undertaken during her 14-year career examining pain.

"I never had an idea about the unintended immune impacts of these commonly used pain medicines," she said.

"In 14 years of studying pain, I've looked across multiple drug classes, (but) I did not know about this until we undertook this review with some of the world's best infectious disease experts."

Australia's health department advises people not to take paracetamol or ibuprofen before getting a Covid jab.

However, it says pain relievers can be taken to manage side effects afterwards.

Dr Abdel-Shaheed said a person should try to avoid taking the pain medicine unless they had uncomfortable symptoms such as a severe headache or fever.

"If it is mild and manageable it would appear the best way to go is to let the body do its thing and mount an immune response," she said.

She said the results suggested that the first Covid shot was the most important one to try to avoid taking medicines like Panadol or Nurofen.

"The results would suggest that the primary vaccine is the most important, there's less certainty around booster shots," she said.

Dr Abdel-Shaheed said the clinical review covered a variety of vaccines, including for influenza and meningitis, and the results raised questions about Covid too.

"What some studies have shown is that paracetamol and ibuprofen can actually reduce the antibody response to the vaccination," she said.

"So if they're taken within six to eight hours of the vaccine being administered there appears to be this reduced effect on the immune response to the vaccine.

"The clinical experience in these other settings does raise questions about the suitability of using these common medicines at the time of Covid vaccines as well.

"There are no specific studies looking into this area and there probably needs to be."

The research also looked at morphine and significantly found that it suppressed key cells of the immune system and increased a person's risk of infection.

This was the case particularly after cancer surgery.

"It is one of the most widely used pain relievers in that context everywhere in the world," Dr Abdel-Shaheed said.

"It can be administered to people in those critical situations and we're seeing it can compromise their immune defences against infection.

"It challenges us to consider potential alternative strategies which don't have those negative consequences."

Another significant finding was that aspirin may be a therapeutic option for tuberculosis, which is a major problem in developing countries.

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