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A possible increased risk of metamizole‐associated neutropenia among COVID‐19 patients
Author(s) -
Lerman Tsahi T.,
Sagi Moshe,
Shafir Yair,
Sheena Liron,
Cohen Eytan,
Goldberg Elad,
Krause Ilan
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
british journal of clinical pharmacology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.216
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1365-2125
pISSN - 0306-5251
DOI - 10.1111/bcp.14703
Subject(s) - metamizole , medicine , neutropenia , antipyretic , covid-19 , analgesic , febrile neutropenia , intensive care medicine , anesthesia , chemotherapy , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty)
Metamizole is commonly used as analgesic and antipyretic drug. The use of metamizole is prohibited in several countries due to its rare side effect of neutropenia and even agranulocytosis. Among the many symptoms of COVID‐19, fever and diffuse pain predominant and therefore it can be assumed that metamizole may be widely used in the current epidemic period. So far, there have been no reports on the safety of metamizole in COVID‐19 patients. We describe a series of 3 patients who developed severe neutropenia under metamizole treatment, raising a concern of a possible increased risk of this side effect among COVID‐19 patients.