Taking This for the Flu Doesn’t Work

Swallowing Tylenol – or store brand – may not help with your symptoms at all. (Stocksy)

While some doctors may recommend their patients take either an acetaminophen or a paracetamol—an over-the-counter pain reliever and fever reducer known by its brand name, Tylenol—when suffering from the flu, a new clinical trail shows that this popular drug had zero impact on fighting the virus or reducing the common symptoms.

The study authors gathered a small group of 80 adult volunteers between the ages of 18 and 65 who tested positive for influenza infections. All of the participants were treated with the maximum dose of either the OTC drugs or a placebo for five days. The patients’ temperature and symptoms (typical symptoms include runny nose, sore throat, muscle pains, headache, coughing, and extreme fatigue) were recorded from day five to day 14.

At the end of the experiment, there was no difference among the flu sufferers regarding symptom scores, temperature, time to resolution of illness and health status. One of the study authors, Dr. Irene Braithwaite from the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, noted that paracetamol was not found to be harmful, but it simply did not offer any benefits.

However, she added that it’s still difficult to make the argument for or against Tylenol based on this one trial, which has been published in the journal Respirology.

“One of the things we need to take from this, though, is that those at risk – particularly pregnant women, the very young, the old, and those with chronic medical conditions – should have the annual influenza vaccination as it confers the best protection available against the influenza virus,” she stated in a press release.

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