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Umifenovir treatment is not associated with improved outcomes in patients with coronavirus disease 2019: A retrospective study.
Clin Microbiol Infect. 2020 Apr 25;:
Authors: Lian N, Xie H, Lin S, Huang J, Zhao J, Lin Q
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Umifenovir (Arbidol®) is an antiviral drug being used to treat influenza in Russia and China. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness and safety of umifenovir for COVID-19.
METHODS: A retrospective study was performed in non-ICU Ward in Jinyintan Hospital from February 2, 2020 to March 20, 2020. COVID-19 was confirmed by real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase-chain-reaction (RT-PCR) assay for pharyngeal swab specimens. The confirmed patients were divided into umifenovir group and control group according to the use of umifenovir. The main outcomes were the negative rate of pharyngeal swab's test for SARS-CoV-2 within 1 week after admission, as well as the duration for virus turning negative. The negativity time of SARS-CoV-2 was defined as the first day of a negative test if the nucleid acid of SARS-CoV-2 was negative for 2 consecutive tests.
RESULTS: A total of 81 COVID-19 patients were included, with 45 in umifenovir group and 36 in control group. Baseline clinical, laboratory characteristics were comparable between two groups. 33/45 (73.3%) patients in umifenovir group were tested negative in SARS-CoV-2 within 7 days after admission, the number was 28/36 (77.8%) in control group (p=0.19). The median time from onset of symtoms to SARS-CoV-2 turning negative were 18 days (interquartile range [IQR] 12-21) in umifenovir group and 16 days (IQR, 11-21) in control group (p= 0.42). Patients in umifenovir group had longer hospital stay than patients in control group (13 days [IQR, 9-17] vs 11 days [IQR, 9-14], p=0.04). No deaths or severe adverse reaction were found in both groups.
CONCLUSIONS: Umifenovir might not improve the prognosis or accelerate the SARS-CoV-2 clearance in non-ICU patients. A randomized control clinical trial is needed to assess the efficacy of umifenovir.
PMID: 32344167 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]