‘Hidden risk' of widely-used prescription drugs — you're more likely to get the flu and Covid while on them
But that's precisely what a shocking new study out of Norway has revealed.
'We have found a surprising and potentially serious side effect of a class of anti-inflammatory drugs. They can help viruses spread more easily in the body,' Denis Kainov, a professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), said in a press release.
Advertisement
A new study has found some common drugs can actually make you more sick.
Getty Images
Janus kinase inhibitors — also known as JAKs — are commonly prescribed for autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis. You might know them by their brand names, such as Xeljanz, Olumiant and Rinvoq.
But while they may ease inflammatory conditions, it seems they can also inflame your chances of catching a nasty bug.
Advertisement
'Among the viruses that more easily affect the body with the help of these drugs are Rift Valley fever virus, influenza A, adenovirus and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19,' Kainov said.
Kainov and his team found that these drugs can suppress interferon-stimulated genes, which play a crucial role in the body's response to viral infections, thereby facilitating the spread of viruses.
They therefore urge medical professionals to exercise caution when prescribing these drugs to patients who might be at risk.
'Among the viruses that more easily affect the body with the help of these drugs are Rift Valley fever virus, influenza A, adenovirus and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19,' Kainov said.
Getty Images
Advertisement
'We recommend further studies to better understand how the drugs can be used optimally, especially during virus outbreaks or pandemics,' Aleksandr Ianevski, an NTNU researcher, said.
JAKs aren't the only class of medication to make headlines recently for some unpleasant side effects.
Other common drugs, such as statins — which are meant to lower cholesterol — and certain medications for high blood pressure have also been implicated in exposing patients to a higher risk of infection.
Advertisement
In a somewhat more bizarre twist, reports reviewed by the BBC suggest some common drugs that are meant to treat Parkinson's and other movement disorders have been pushing people into sexually deviant behavior.
And the FDA recently issued a warning about generic versions of a widely-used hair loss drug — finasteride — that is frequently distributed by popular telehealth brands like Hims and Keeps, after dozens of users reported sexual dysfunction, brain fog and suicidal thoughts.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
7 hours ago
- New York Post
Freaky ‘Frankenstein' rabbits have been spotted in these 2 states: ‘They're all over here'
It's hare today, gone tomorrow — thanks to a face full of freaky tentacles. The grotesque 'Frankenstein'-esque rabbits — once just a Colorado curiosity — are now turning up in Minnesota and Nebraska, their furry faces sprouting grotesque horn- and tentacle-like growths straight out of a B-movie. The unsettling deformities are the calling card of cottontail papilloma virus (CRPV), also known as Shope papilloma virus — a bug that turns harmless bunnies into nightmare fuel. The DNA-twisting illness is spread when mosquitoes, ticks, or fleas bite an infected rabbit and then pass it along to others. While the virus doesn't affect humans or pets like dogs and cats, wildlife officials are warning: look, don't touch. 4 Mother Nature's gone mad scientist on America's rabbits, with more and more 'Frankenbunnies' emerging in two additional states. Universal Images Group via Getty Images First, the infection appears as small, red bumps. Then, as the virus works its dark magic, the spots erupt into wart-like tumors — which can harden into keratinized papillomas, the bizarre 'horns' and 'tentacles' now haunting Midwestern lawns. In some cases, those warts morph into deadly skin cancer. And this summer could be prime bunny-horror season: mosquito and tick numbers soar in the warm months, giving CRPV plenty of winged and crawling couriers to spread it across the heartland. 4 The freaky growths are the handiwork of cottontail papilloma virus — aka Shope papilloma virus — a bug that turns cuddly bunnies into straight-up nightmares. Universal Images Group via Getty Images Locals in Fort Collins, Colorado, have been spotting the deformed rabbits for weeks. Resident Susan Mansfield told 9News she saw one with what looked like 'black quills or black toothpicks sticking out all around his or her mouth.' 'I thought he would die off during the winter, but he didn't,' she said. 'He came back a second year, and it grew.' On Reddit, one Minnesotan recently reported seeing the phenomenon 'for the last few years in Minnesota,' adding that the rabbits around them 'died off who had it.' Another chimed in: 'They're all over here in St. Paul. When I google them, it's hundreds of MN based photos.' 4 Summer could be peak bunny-horror season: swarms of mosquitoes and ticks are spreading CRPV across the Midwest. Gunnar Boettcher/AP Meanwhile in Nebraska, one shocked resident posted a video of a bunny with the same creepy, fleshy appendages sprouting from its head and dangling beneath its mouth. CRPV isn't new — scientists have known about it for decades. In 2013, a Minnesota man's video of a tendril-ridden rabbit went viral, with viewers comparing it to the fabled Jackalope. While the virus is harmless to people, it can be deadly for the rabbits — sometimes growing so large that the twisted protrusions block their mouths, causing starvation, as per The Daily Mail. 4 Reddit users from Minnesota and Nebraska are sharing sightings of the freaky, tentacle-faced rabbits hopping through their neighborhoods. Reddit/Different_Try3353 And in domestic bunnies, the growths can lead to squamous cell carcinoma, a potentially fatal skin cancer. With no cure, experts warn to keep pets away, resist the urge to 'help,' and unfortunately let nature — however nightmarish — run its course.
USA Today
9 hours ago
- USA Today
'How do we get down?' RFK Jr., Dr. Oz climb boulder in video stunt
A video of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Medicare administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz climbing a large rock and hiking through Colorado's Garden of the Gods has been circulating online. In the three-and-a-half-minute-long video posted Wednesday, Aug. 13, on Kennedy's official HHS X page, he and Oz are seen at the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In a separate X post on Kennedy's personal page, the secretary wrote that he and Oz went hiking during a break between their speeches at the National Governors Conference, which took place July 25-26. Kennedy speaks in the public service announcement video about how daily hiking has benefitted his life, improving his focus, clarity and creativity. He says that hiking also exposes him to "sunlight," which he calls "medicine" since it is a source of vitamin D. "Fifteen minutes outside can change your day − and your life. It sharpens your mind, strengthens your body, and restores the connection so many of us have lost − to each other, to nature, and to ourselves," Kennedy wrote in the post. "Thanks @DrOzCMS for joining me on this hike." Aa around the two-minute and 30-second mark in the video, Kennedy says, "We got to go, this mountain is not going to climb itself." As the video cuts to Kennedy, 71, climbing the mountain, he appears wobbly as he pulls himself up onto a boulder. Oz, 65, follows behind him and appears to need Kennedy's assistance to reach the boulder. "So how do we get down?" Oz says in the video, before sliding back down with Kennedy. Fifteen minutes outside can change your day — and your sharpens your mind, strengthens your body, and restores the connection so many of us have lost — to each other, to nature, and to @DrOzCMS for joining me on this hike. The internet reacts Some naturally poked fun at the video, calling it an "SNL skit" or mocking it as cringe. Others mocked Kennedy's jeans, which he'd also worn during a July hike in sweltering Arizona in an image shared publicly, much to the amusement of social media. Supporters echoed Kennedy and Oz's message about getting outside and encouraged others to go on walks. Since being appointed as HHS secretary by President Donald Trump, Kennedy has faced criticism over changes in COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for children and pregnant people, as well as his cuts to vaccine programs. He has been an advocate for natural medical and health methods, including improving food quality by eliminating certain dyes and additives. Jonathan Limehouse covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at JLimehouse@
NBC News
9 hours ago
- NBC News
HHS revives task force on childhood vaccine safety
A long-shuttered federal task force on childhood vaccine safety is being revived, the Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday. HHS said in a statement that it is reinstating the Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines, which disbanded in 1998, 'to improve the safety, quality, and oversight of vaccines administered to American children.' Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health, will be chairman. Other members of the task force will include Susan Monarez, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Dr. Marty Makary, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, said Andrew Nixon, an HHS spokesperson. Nixon said additional members will be announced in the future. Dr. Howard Koh, a public health professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said: 'Everyone wants childhood vaccines to be as safe as possible. But reviving this panel now must be put in the context of recent HHS actions.' Many public health experts have accused HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of pursuing an aggressive anti-vaccine agenda as health secretary. Since he assumed office in February, he has cut $2 billion from a program that supports vaccines for vulnerable children, downplayed the importance of measles vaccines amid a record-breaking outbreak and cut $500 million in contracts for mRNA vaccine research. In June, Kennedy fired members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) — medical and public health experts who make recommendations to the CDC about who should get certain vaccines — and replaced them with well-known vaccine skeptics or critics of Covid vaccines. The new committee chair, Martin Kulldorff, said the committee will form two work groups, one to scrutinize the childhood vaccination schedule and another to re-evaluate vaccines that haven't been reviewed in more than seven years. The Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines was formed in 1986 as part of the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, which aimed to compensate the small number of children who had adverse reactions to vaccines and address growing threats of litigation over vaccine injuries. A lawsuit filed in May claims Kennedy violated the 1986 act by failing to establish a task force dedicated to making childhood vaccines safer. The suit is funded by Children's Health Defense, the anti-vaccine group Kennedy founded. Mary Holland, the group's CEO, praised Kennedy on Thursday for fulfilling his obligation. 'At last the Secretary is following the law on this critical issue. We are grateful,' Holland said in a statement on X. The task force will work closely with the Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines, which provides recommendations to the HHS secretary about how to implement a national compensation program for childhood vaccine injuries. According to HHS, the groups will give regular advice about how to improve adverse reaction reporting and develop childhood vaccines that result in fewer and less serious adverse reactions. Vaccine injuries are extremely rare, and the United States has robust systems for detecting adverse reactions, including the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, Vaccine Safety Datalink and V-safe. Before vaccines ever reach the market, clinical trials look for safety concerns and pause if any major issues arise. Then independent advisory committees to the FDA and the CDC evaluate the safety data and issue recommendations about which vaccines to approve and who should get them. But Kennedy has repeatedly said the federal government isn't doing enough to monitor for vaccine side effects. 'At least once a week, he comes up with a new zinger seeking to discredit vaccines, and it's very dangerous,' said Dr. Peter Hotez, a co-director of the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development. Hotez said it's unclear why Kennedy would revive a task force on childhood vaccine safety, given that the current system has a proven track record of picking up on rare adverse events. 'What's the point now, other than he'll use it as a bully pulpit to push his MAHA, anti-vaccine agenda? That's the worry,' Hotez said. 'Who's he going to put on this committee?' he added. 'Will it be like ACIP, where he starts to stack it with anti-vaccine activists?'
