Widely used heartburn drugs tied to higher coronavirus risk

Widely used heartburn drugs that have been linked with numerous complications including higher risk for kidney disease and dementia with long-term use may also be tied to a higher risk for COVID-19, researchers have found.

The class of drugs known as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) that include omeprazole (Prilosec), lansoprazole (Prevacid), pantoprazole (Protonix), and esomeprazole (Nexium) work by stopping the stomach from producing too much acid.

Researchers conducted a survey of more than 53,000 people, including nearly 4,000 who said they had tested positive for COVID-19.

They found that those taking a PPI once a day had more than a two-fold higher risk of coronavirus infection, and people taking them twice a day had more than a three-fold higher risk than those not using the medicines, according to the study led by Dr. Brennan Spiegel of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and released on Tuesday by the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Individuals taking heartburn drugs called histamine-2 receptor antagonists (H2RAs) were not at elevated risk, the researchers said.

The study only shows a correlation and does not prove that PPIs caused the increase in coronavirus infections. “Further studies examining the association between PPIs and COVID-19 are needed,” Spiegel’s team says.