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The uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic has made our stomachs churn, and now, evidence suggests that intense heartburn may be linked with worse symptoms of the disease. Some drugs that neutralize stomach acid, such as famotidine, which President Donald Trump is taking, are associated with reduced severity, but others, such as Prilosec, correlate with higher infection rates and risk of death, at least in patients hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2 infections.
“Everyone has some level of acid reflux,” says Helder Nakaya, a systems biologist at the University of São Paulo in Brazil who has been studying the link between stomach acid and SARS-CoV-2 infection. “But I want to be clear . . . we cannot claim that this increased risk of death would apply to everyone with reflux.” The link does suggest that stomach acid might be a factor that’s often overlooked when it comes to COVID-19, Nakaya ...
