Antiviral drugs arbidol and interferon alpha-1b contribute to reducing the severity of COVID-19 patients: a retrospective cohort study

Virology Journal

Shuyan Liu¹  Gengwei Zhang¹  Qinglong Guo¹  Juan Meng¹  Guoliang Zhang¹  Yingxia Liu²  Jincheng Chen³  Dongqi Wang⁴  Ye Li⁴  Peng Yin⁴  Muchun Zhu⁴  Junxiao Gao⁴ 

[1] National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology, 518112, Shenzhen, China;National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology, 518112, Shenzhen, China;Savaid Medical School, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049, Beijing, China;Savaid Medical School, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049, Beijing, China;Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 518055, Shenzhen, China;

关键词: Arbidol;    Interferon alpha-1b;    Severity rate;    COVID-19;    Antiviral agents;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12985-021-01617-w

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to evaluate the role of antiviral drugs in reducing the risk of developing severe illness in patients with moderate COVID-19 pneumonia.MethodsThis retrospective cohort study included 403 adult patients with moderate COVID-19 pneumonia who were admitted to Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital, China. The antiviral drugs arbidol, interferon alpha-1b, lopinavir–ritonavir and ribavirin were distributed to the patients for treatment. The primary endpoint of this study was the time to develop severe illness.ResultsOf the 462 patients admitted, 403 had moderate COVID-19 symptoms at hospital admission and were included in this study. 90 of the 403 (22.3%) patients progressed to severe illness. The use of arbidol was associated with a lower severity rate 3.5% compared to control group 30.5%, p-value < 0.0001; the adjusted hazard ratio was 0.28 (95% CI: 0.084–0.90, p = 0.033). The use of interferon alpha-1b was associated with a lower severity rate 15.5% compared to control group 29.3%, with p-value < 0.0001; the adjusted hazard ratio was 0.30 (95% CI: 0.15–0.58, p =  0.0005). The use of lopinavir–itonavir and ribavirin did not show significant differences in adjusted regression models. Early use of arbidol within 7 days of symptom onset was significantly associated with a reduced recovery time of − 5.2 days (IQR − 3.0 to − 7.5, p = 4e−06) compared with the control group.ConclusionTreatment with arbidol and interferon alpha-1b contributes to reducing the severity of illness in patients with moderate COVID-19 pneumonia. Early use of arbidol may reduce patients’ recovery time.

【 授权许可】

CC BY