Baracaldo-Santamaría Daniela, Pabón-Londoño Santiago, Rojas-Rodriguez Luis Carlos
Pharmacology Unit, Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia.
School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia.
Ther Adv Drug Saf. 2022 Apr 21;13:20420986221094141. doi: 10.1177/20420986221094141. eCollection 2022.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the behavior of self-medication has increased. The dissemination of misleading information regarding the efficacy of certain drugs or substances for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 has been the major contributing factor for this phenomenon. Alongside with the increase in self-medication behavior, the inherent risks to this act such as drug-drug interactions, adverse events, drug toxicity, and masking of symptoms have also increased. Self-medication in the context of COVID-19 has led to drug misuse leading in some cases to the development of fatal adverse drug reactions. It is important that during this ongoing pandemic drugs with potential clinical efficacy against COVID-19 are adequately analyzed regarding their efficacy, safety, and monitoring. The aim of this review is to describe the available evidence regarding the efficacy, safety, and monitoring of the drugs and substances that have been shown to be frequently used for self-medication in patients with COVID-19 (hydroxychloroquine, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, ivermectin, azithromycin, vitamins, aspirin, and chlorine dioxide) to adequately characterize their risks, safe use, monitoring strategies, and to reinforce the concept that these substances should not be used for self-medication and require a medical prescription.
Dissemination of information about potential COVID-19 treatments has led individuals to self-medicate and expose themselves to risks such as drug-drug interactions, side effects, antibiotic resistance, and misdiagnosis. There is a need to review the medical literature to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the drugs and substances commonly used by the population for the treatment and prevention of SARS CoV-2 infection. In this review, we included drugs that are frequently used for self-medication and commonly advertised such as ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, chlorine dioxide, azithromycin, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, among others. A brief introduction of the drug and its mechanism of action, followed by a summary of the efficacy in COVID-19 and safety, will be described for each drug in order to promote their responsible use.
在新冠疫情期间，自我药疗行为有所增加。关于某些药物或物质对新冠病毒预防和治疗功效的误导性信息传播是这一现象的主要促成因素。随着自我药疗行为的增加，这种行为固有的风险，如药物相互作用、不良事件、药物毒性和症状掩盖等也有所增加。新冠疫情背景下的自我药疗导致了药物滥用，在某些情况下引发了致命的药物不良反应。在这场仍在持续的疫情中，对具有抗新冠病毒潜在临床疗效的药物进行疗效、安全性及监测方面的充分分析非常重要。本综述的目的是描述已证明在新冠患者中经常用于自我药疗的药物和物质（羟氯喹、非甾体抗炎药、伊维菌素、阿奇霉素、维生素、阿司匹林和二氧化氯）在疗效、安全性和监测方面的现有证据，以充分描述其风险、安全使用、监测策略，并强化这些物质不应自我药疗而需要医生处方的观念。
关于新冠潜在治疗方法的信息传播导致个人自我药疗，并使自己面临药物相互作用、副作用、抗生素耐药性和误诊等风险。有必要查阅医学文献，以评估人们用于治疗和预防新冠病毒感染的药物和物质的安全性和疗效。在本综述中，我们纳入了经常用于自我药疗且经常宣传的药物，如伊维菌素、羟氯喹、二氧化氯、阿奇霉素和非甾体抗炎药等。将对每种药物进行简要介绍及其作用机制，随后总结其在新冠治疗中的疗效和安全性，以促进其合理使用。
