Incidence of Severe Cases of COVID-19 Treated with Favipiravir

doi:10.19803/j.1672-8629.2021.10.01

Abstract

Abstract: Objective To analyze the efficacy of favipiravir in the treatment of COVID-19 via a matched cohort study. Methods According to age, gender, blood routine results, C-reactive protein and SAA levels at admission, propensity scores were calculated and matched at the ratio of 1∶1 (treatment group vs control group). The treatment group was given oral FPV (day 1: twice, a single dose of 1600 mg, day 2: twice, a single dose of 1 600 mg, and days 2~5: twice a day, a single dose of 600 mg). The control group received routine treatment. There were 147 patients in either group. The duration of hospital stay, rate of virus clearance and chest CT were compared between the two groups. Results The median time of hospital stay was 29 (24,39) days in the treatment group and 32 (22,44) days in the control group, so there was no significant difference between the two groups (P=0.575). The median time taken by viral clearance was 25 (18,33) days in the treatment group and 25 (13,40) days in the control group, so there was no significant difference between the two groups (P=0.982). In the treatment group, 9 patients became severe or critically severe, compared with 32 in the control group. The incidence of severe cases in the treatment group was significantly lower than in the control group (P=0.000). For severe patients, the mean time of hospital stay and viral shedding in the treatment group was shorter than in the control group, but there was no significant difference between the two groups (P=0.116, 0.133). The remission time of CT in the treatment group was (9.38±4.94) days and (13.44±4.67) days in the control group, which were significantly shorter than in the control group (P=0.033). Conclusion In this study, treatment of COVID-19 with FPV can reduce the incidence of critically ill cases, and FPV can contribute to the remission of CT in severe or critically ill patients.

Key words: favipiravir, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, clinical observation, propensity score

CLC Number:

R978.7

TIAN Di, GE Ziruo, QIAN Fang, ZHANG Tingyu, SONG Meihua, HAN Bing, WANG Aibin, MA Ruize, CHEN Zhihai, XU Yanli. Incidence of Severe Cases of COVID-19 Treated with Favipiravir[J]. Chinese Journal of Pharmacovigilance, 2021, 18(10): 901-904.

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