The selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) fluoxetine and fluvoxamine were used to treat COVID-19 at the beginning of the pandemic based on earlier studies. However, the antiviral activity of SSRIs has not been studied in vivo. To address this gap, a study has evaluated the effectiveness of fluoxetine against SARS-CoV-2 in 271 COVID-19 patients aged 18–50. The study found that patients receiving fluoxetine demonstrated a 15% faster average viral clearance rate than those receiving no study drug. The estimated viral clearance half-lives were comparable between both groups (14.0 vs.
14.9 hours). Notably, the treatment effectiveness of fluoxetine was lower than that of remdesivir, molnupiravir, and casirivimab/imdevimab. These findings suggest that fluoxetine has weak in-vivo antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 in early COVID-19. Did you find this article interesting?…
