A new study conducted by a joint team of researchers from Leumit Health Care Services, Bar-Ilan University, and Barzilai Medical Center revealed that aspirin usage can help mitigate the Covid-19 risk.

The study, published in the journal FEBS (Federation of European Biochemical Societies) looked at the data gathered from around 10,000 people in Israel who tested positive for the virus between February 1 and June 30, 2020.

For the study, the researchers made two cohorts: one who regularly took a low dose of aspirin to treat cardiovascular illnesses and those who do not take it at all.

The researchers found that people who take aspirin regularly were 29 per cent less likely to contract coronavirus than the people who do not take aspirin at all.

They also observed that those who consumed aspirin and tested positive for the virus recover two-three days faster than other infected individuals, depending on their co-morbidities. The viral load was significantly lower due to aspirin intake.

“This observation of the possible beneficial effect of low doses of aspirin on Covid-19 infection is preliminary but seems very promising,” Prof. Eli Magen from the Barzilai Medical Center, who led the study, said in the study.

The team further intended to examine the properties of aspirin that make it resistant to the Covid-19 virus.

“The present study sought to better understand the potential favorable effects of aspirin in aiding the human immune system to battle Covid-19,” stated Dr Milana Frenkel-Morgenstern of the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine of Bar-Ilan University.

“We intend to investigate a larger cohort of patients and in randomized clinical trials,” he added.

According to the physicians who carried out the study, medications based on acetylsalicylic acid – aspirin’s essential component – are used to reduce pain, fever, and inflammation. These properties may have helped in the prevention of the Covid-19 disease.

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