Study: Acetaminophen No Better Than Placebo In Fighting Flu Symptoms

By Dr Deepu

Study: Acetaminophen No Better Than Placebo In Fighting Flu Symptoms .The New York Times (12/9, Bakalar) reports “a randomized trial has found that” acetaminophen “is no more effective than a placebo, with no discernible effect at all on reducing fever or other flu symptoms.” The study was performed by researchers at Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, and is published in Respirology.

It was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of adults aged 18–65 years with influenza-like illness and positive influenza rapid antigen test. Treatments were given with 1 g paracetamol four times a day, or matching placebo, for 5 days. Pernasal swabs were taken for influenza quantitative RT-PCR at Baseline and Days 1, 2 and 5. Temperature and symptom scores were recorded for 5–14 days or time of resolution respectively. The primary outcome variable was area under the curve (AUC) for quantitative PCR log₁₀ viral load from Baseline to Day 5.

They studied  80 participants were randomized: There were 22 and 24 participants who were influenza PCR-positive in placebo and in paracetamol groups respectively. In all participants there were no differences in symptom scores, temperature, time to resolution of illness and health status, with no interaction between randomized treatment and whether influenza was detected by PCR.they therefore concluded that the regular paracetamol had no effect on viral shedding, temperature or clinical symptoms in patients with PCR-confirmed influenza. There remains an insufficient evidence base for paracetamol use in influenza infection.