Leading cardiologists have swiftly condemned a suggestion to substitute widely used antihypertensives with other drugs following claims they increase the risk of “severe and fatal” coronavirus infection.

In a letter to the Lancet Respiratory Medicine European researchers say patients with heart disease or diabetes on ACEIs and ARBs could reduce their risk by switching to alternative medication, such as calcium-channel blockers.

However, major cardiac societies in Europe and the US have rejected the advice and warned that discontinuing the medicines could do more harm than good.

Australia’s National Heart Foundation chief medical adviser cardiologist Professor Garry Jennings has urged GPs to continue treating patients in the usual way in the absence of evidence supporting the researchers’ hypothesis.