Abstract
ObjectiveSince the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Wuhan City, China, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a global pandemic. However, no special therapeutic drugs have been identified for COVID-19. The aim of this study was to search for drugs to effectively treat COVID-19.Materials and MethodsWe conducted a retrospective cohort study with a total of 162 adult inpatients (≥18 years old) from Ruijin Hospital (Shanghai, China) and Tongji Hospital (Wuhan, China) between January 27, 2020, and March 10, 2020. The enrolled COVID-19 patients were first divided into the Lianhuaqingwen (LHQW) monotherapy group and the LHQW + Arbidol combination therapy group. Then, these two groups were further classified into moderate and severe groups according to the clinical classification of COVID-19.ResultsThe early combined usage of LHQW and Arbidol can significantly accelerate the recovery of patients with moderate COVID-19 by reducing the time to conversion to nucleic acid negativity, the time to chest CT improvement, and the length of hospital stay. However, no benefit was observed in severe COVID-19 patients treated with the combination of LHQW + Arbidol. In this study, both Arbidol and LHQW were well tolerated without serious drug-associated adverse events.ConclusionThe early combined usage of LHQW and Arbidol may accelerate recovery and improve the prognosis of patients with moderate COVID-19.
Highlights
In December 2019, the severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak began in Wuhan, China
The early combined usage of LHQW and Arbidol can significantly accelerate the recovery of patients with moderate COVID-19 by reducing the time to conversion to nucleic acid negativity, the time to chest computed tomography (CT) improvement, and the length of hospital stay
A total of 162 eligible patients with COVID-19 were recruited from two hospitals in Wuhan and Shanghai cities for the full analysis: 49 patients were in the LHQW monotherapy group, and 113 patients were in the LHQW + Arbidol combination therapy group
Summary
In December 2019, the severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak began in Wuhan, China. The respiratory disease caused by this virus was termed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and it has spread rapidly, becoming a worldwide pandemic (Pedersen and Ho, 2020). In one single-center case study of 138 hospitalized patients with confirmed COVID-19 in Wuhan, the overall mortality rate was 4.3% (Wang D. et al, 2020). To date, this infectious disease has been controlled in China. This infectious disease has been controlled in China It continues to spread, and the number of confirmed cases is still increasing in other countries. Specific vaccines and effective antiviral drugs are urgently needed
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