Fluvoxamine for the treatment of COVID-19

Effectiveness of antidepressants in improving the prognosis of COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…The estimated measure by deleting Hoertel's study 11 suggests a statistically significant reduction in the risk of poor disease evolution in patients taking antidepressants; results which agree with obtained by Lee el al. 30 and Nyirenda et al, 31 who assessed the effectiveness of fluvoxamine preventing hospitalization and mortality respectively. 32 …”

COVID-19 mortality among selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor users—results from a nationwide cohort

“…Previous studies have highlighted fluoxetine and fluvoxamine as superior to other SSRIs, and a recent Cochrane review found that fluvoxamine in addition to standard care might slightly reduce all-cause mortality in SARS-CoV-2-positive patients. [ 11 ] [ 1 , 3 ] Due to limited use in our study population, we have not been able to examine fluvoxamine. Still, when stratifying SSRI according to drug type, we see a substantial reduction in HR for death among fluoxetine users.…”

“…[ 3 ] However, existing studies are, in many cases, impaired by low sample sizes, lack information on vaccination status, have varying definitions for SSRI use, and introduce possible population bias by only examining specific subgroups such as patients seeking hospital examination or closely defined high or low-risk groups. [ [3] , [4] , [5] , [6] , [7] , [8] , [9] , [10] , [11] , [12] ]. In Denmark, extensive nationwide real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing for severe-acute-respiratory-syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) was conducted during the pandemic, and all results were stored in a national database.…”

Initiation of antidepressants in patients infected with SARS-COV-2: Don't forget Caution for “Paradoxical” Anxiety/Jitteriness syndrome—Commentary: Prescription of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in COVID-19 infection needs caution

“…Second, there seems emerging, albeit preliminary and still inconsistent, evidence for reducing COVID-19-related mortality and hospitalizations using a couple of ADs (5)(6)(7)(8). This applies especially to fluvoxamine, which is, as of November 2022, the most well-studied AD in this specific research area (5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11). The cheap and easy availability of this molecule and similar ADs might facilitate an increasing prescription by physicians who may be not experienced in psychopharmacology, especially in regions where vaccination programs are still far from realization.…”