How can I help myself if I get sick with COVID-19 coronavirus?

Reputable research workers are working around the clock to give direction on how to best care for yourself if you suspect you are sick with COVID-19 coronavirus.

The good news is that approximately 80 percent of all COVID-19 cases exhibit only mild to moderate symptoms that don’t require hospitalization. Doctors recommend that these patients self-isolate, stay hydrated, eat well, and manage their symptoms as best they can.

For taking care of the fever associated with many illnesses, including COVID-19, physicians suggest taking acetaminophen—known internationally as paracetamol—before ibuprofen. If the fever persists, patients should then consider switching to ibuprofen, The doctors express this preference because ibuprofen and related drugs—called NSAIDs for short—can have harmful side effects for those sick with COVID-19 coronavirus, including kidney injury, stomach ulcers, and gastrointestinal bleeding.

“By all means, if you’re having emergency breathing symptoms or something’s troublesome, we do want you to seek emergency attention,” says Purvi Parikh, an allergy and infectious disease specialist at NYU Langone in New York City.

Researchers and physicians around the world are now racing to properly test whether various preexisting medicines might be coopted into the fight against COVID-19. Physicians interviewed by National Geographic expressed the most hope over remdesivir, an antiviral medication being developed by Gilead Sciences.

MMP