Pain relievers like Tylenol and Advil are ‘perfectly good’ – but only after COVID-19 vaccine, experts say

Avoid pain relievers right before getting the COVID-19 vaccine, but they’re “ perfectly good ” to take afterwards, experts say.

Headache, fever, body aches and chills.

While these are quite normal side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine – and a good sign that your immune system is working – they can be unpleasant.

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To minimize the discomfort, some Americans may turn to pain relievers such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen. Others fear that these drugs may weaken the effectiveness of the vaccine.

Studies on the subject are sparse and inconsistent, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization both recommend against the preventative use of pain relievers, but allowing them if symptoms develop afterwards.

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Woman checking thermometer having fever

In a study published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Virology, researchers found that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen can reduce the production of antibodies and impact other aspects. of the immune response to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

The researchers said the study results raised the possibility that pain relievers such as ibuprofen may alter the immune response to the COVID-19 vaccine.

Dr Colleen Kelley, an associate professor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine who was not affiliated with the study, speculates that this could be caused by the reduction in inflammation triggered by the immune system.

“The immune system generates a response through controlled inflammation. (Pain relievers) can reduce the production of inflammatory mediators, ”she says. “So this is the potential mechanism for a reduced immune response to vaccination if you take these drugs.”

But Dr Marian Michaels, a member of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Board, says studies have shown that the immune system responds differently to the COVID-19 vaccine than to natural infection.

“We believe the (immune) response to the vaccine is actually a better response than the wild type virus with COVID-19,” said Michaels, who is also a pediatric infectious disease physician at UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh. “For this very reason, even for a person who has been infected in the past… we recommend that people continue to receive the vaccine.”

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A 2016 study from Duke University looked at the effectiveness of various vaccines in children and found that those who took pain relievers before getting vaccinated regularly had fewer antibodies than those who didn’t.

However, the few existing studies of pain relievers and vaccines are not robust enough to draw any conclusions, experts say, because children in the 2016 study who took pain relievers and showed fewer antibodies still had a sufficient immune response to provide protection.

There is no data that shows a reduced immune response if drugs are taken after receiving the vaccine to treat side effects, Kelley added.

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“It’s perfectly fine to take NSAIDs or Tylenol if you don’t feel well after the vaccination,” Kelley said. “The symptoms you are experiencing indicate that your immune system is functioning normally and that the immune response is underway.”

Michaels notes that study participants were not prohibited from taking pain relievers in the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 trials and that the effectiveness rates were still above 95%.

“Although I don’t have the exact number of people in the research study… I’m sure many of them took acetaminophen or ibuprofen because 70% had mild side effects of the drug. vaccine, ”she said. “And yet there was still an immunological response.”

Follow Adrianna Rodriguez on Twitter: @AdriannaUSAT.

Patient health and safety coverage at USA TODAY is made possible in part by a grant from the Masimo Foundation for Ethics, Innovation and Competition in Healthcare. The Masimo Foundation does not provide editorial contributions.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pain relievers like Tylenol and Advil are ‘perfectly fine’ – but only after COVID-19 vaccine, experts say