Fluvoxamine Reduces Long COVID Fatigue in Clinical Trial

A randomized clinical trial involving 399 adults has found that fluvoxamine, a low‑cost antidepressant, significantly reduces fatigue and improves quality of life in patients with long COVID. The study, which compared fluvoxamine with a placebo, marks one of the first instances in which a medication has demonstrated meaningful benefits for the persistent fatigue that many individuals experience after acute COVID‑19 infection.

Participants receiving fluvoxine reported measurable declines in fatigue scores and higher scores on standardized quality‑of‑life assessments than those given a placebo, indicating a clinically relevant effect. The trial’s design, which randomly assigned participants and blinded both investigators and subjects, supports the reliability of the findings. Researchers noted that the drug’s affordability and established safety profile could facilitate rapid integration into treatment protocols for long COVID, a condition that currently lacks widely accepted pharmacologic options. Further studies are anticipated to confirm these results and explore long‑term outcomes.