A single baby aspirin could be all the difference for someone hospitalized with COVID.
Scientists from George Washington University looked at medical data of more than 110,000 U.S. patients from 64 hospitals.
Those with moderate symptoms — meaning not in the ICU or on a ventilator — who took an aspirin in the first 24 hours, showed a lower risk of dying. Dr. Jonathan Chow led the study.
"Specifically, there was a 1.6% reduction in death in patients who received aspirin, which translates to a 13.6 relative decrease in the odds of death," he said.
Chow says patients older than 60 — and those with two or more underlying health conditions — saw the most benefit.
"This study is so exciting because this is really a medication that is available to everyone throughout the world," Chow continued.
Aspirin is also cheap. It could help across the globe for people who can't afford or access other more expensive medicines like monoclonal antibodies.
That includes Americans. Federal funding is drying up. Starting this week, providers won't get payments for providing COVID treatments.
"We had to cut the supply of monoclonal antibody treatments that we had distributed in the past to every state. That distribution to each state was reduced by 35%," Department of Health and Human Services Sec. Xavier Becerra said.
While promising, the study was only on hospitalized patients.
So, someone home sick from COVID shouldn't go to the pharmacy and start taking an aspirin a day. First, talk to your doctor about the risks.
