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Taking aspirin pills may help protect against coronavirus infection, a study suggests. 

The common, cheap and safe drug is often prescribed to prevent heart disease and stroke as well as a regular over-the-counter painkiller. 

Data from more than 10,000 people who were tested for Covid between February and June 2020 revealed one aspirin tablet (75mg) a day led to a 29 percent lower risk of catching the virus. 

It remains unknown exactly how aspirin may prevent coronavirus infection but the authors believe its antiviral properties come from an ability to change how the immune system responds to the pathogen.

Findings from the study, conducted by Israeli researchers at Leumit Health Services, Bar-Ilan University and Barzilai Medical Center, were published last month in The FEBS Journal.

'This observation of the possible beneficial effect of low doses of aspirin on COVID-19 infection is preliminary but seems very promising,' says study leader Professor Eli Magen from the Barzilai Medical Center. 

Data of patients from a database was analysed and the proportion of people on aspirin was lower among people with COVID-19 than those who tested negative.

Seventy-three people who tested positive were taking aspirin, accounting for one in nine of all positive cases. 

However, 16 per cent of people (roughly one in six) who tested negative were taking aspirin. 

The reduction in risk from one to the other is more than a quarter (29 per cent).

On average, the people taking aspirin were 14 years older; were overweight but not obese, unlike the non-aspirin group; and more likely to have diabetes, high blood pressure and COPD. 

The researchers also found that while people on aspirin are less likely to catch coronavirus, they also recover quicker if they do contract the virus. 

The average time between a patient's first positive test and their second negative test drops from 21.9 days to 19.8 days when they use aspirin daily. 

'A large, nation-wide study revealed that the use of aspirin is associated with a decreased likelihood of a positive COVID-19 test result,' the researchers write. 

It remains unknown exactly how aspirin may prevent coronavirus infection but the authors believe its antiviral properties come from an ability to change how the immune system responds to the pathogen.