by Hoertel N, Sánchez-Rico M, Kornhuber J, Gulbins E, Reiersen AM, Lenze EJ, Fritz BA, Jalali F, Mills EJ, Cougoule C, Carpinteiro A, Mühle C, Becker KA, Boulware DR, Blanco C, Alvarado JM, Strub-Wourgaft N, Lemogne C, Limosin F, on behalf of AP-HP/Université Paris Cité/INSERM COVID-19 Research Collaboration, AP-HP COVID CDR Initiative and “Entrepôt de Données de Santé” AP-HP Consortium. Journal of Clinical Medicine 2022;11(19):5882. doi.org/10.3390/jcm11195882
Summary: Several lines of research suggest that certain antidepressants could be beneficial against COVID-19. In this study, the authors investigated whether there was a difference in prevalence of antidepressant use in patients hospitalized with and without COVID-19, and whether antidepressant use is associated with reduced 28-day mortality in patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Antidepressant use was significantly less prevalent in inpatients with COVID-19 than without (1.9% versus 4.8%) and was significantly associated with reduced 28-day mortality among COVID-19 inpatients (12.8% versus 21.2%), particularly at daily doses of at least 40 mg fluoxetine equivalent. These treatments may reduce SARS-CoV-2 infections and COVID-19-related mortality in inpatients, and may be appropriate for prophylaxis and/or COVID-19 therapy for outpatients or inpatients.