Favipiravir for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 pneumonia; a propensity score-matched cohort study. Issue 10 (October 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Alattar, Rand A.; Abdalla, Shiema; Abdallah, Tasneem; Kazman, Rashid; Qadmour, Aseelah; Ibrahim, Tawheeda; Alhariri, Bassem; Shaar, Shahd H.; Bajwa, Abeer; Alimam, Abeir; Qazi, Rabia; Ben Abid, Fatma; Daghfal, Joanne; Eldeeb, Ali; Shukri, Kinda; Elsayed, Ahmed; Rustom, Fatima; Alsamawi, Musaed; Abdelmajid, Alaaeldin; Basulto, Miguel A.P.; Cobian, Armando A.R.; Abukhattab, Mohamed; Alkhal, Abdullatif; Almaslamani, Muna A.; Omrani, Ali S.
• Is Part Of: Journal of infection and public health. Volume 15:Issue 10(2022)
• Page Start: 1061
• Page End: 1064
• Publication Date: 2022-10
• Subjects: COVID-19 -- SARS-CoV-2 -- Pneumonia -- Favipiravir -- Antiviral therapy; Communicable diseases -- Periodicals; Public health -- Periodicals; Epidemiology -- Periodicals; Nosocomial infections -- Prevention -- Periodicals; Medical microbiology -- Periodicals; 614.4
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jiph.2022.08.011
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1876-0341

Abstract

Abstract: We retrospectively investigated the clinical outcomes of favipiravir in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. Patients who between 23 May 2020 and 18 July 2020 received ≥ 24 h of favipiravir were assigned to the favipiravir group, while those who did not formed the non-favipiravir group. The primary outcome was 28-day clinical improvement, defined as two-category improvement from baseline on an 8-point ordinal scale. Propensity scores (PS) for favipiravir therapy were used for 1:1 matching. The unmatched cohort included 1493 patients, of which 51.7% were in the favipiravir group, and 48.3% were not receiving supplemental oxygen at baseline. Significant baseline differences between the two unmatched groups existed, but not between the PS-matched groups (N = 774). After PS-matching, there were no significant differences between the two groups in the proportion with 28-day clinical improvement (93.3% versus 92.8%, P 0.780), or 28-day all-cause mortality (2.1% versus 3.1%, P 0.360). Favipiravir was associated with more viral clearance by day 28 (79.8% versus 64.1%, P < 0.001). Adverse events were common in both groups, but the 93.9% were Grades 1–3. Favipiravir therapy for COVID-19 pneumonia is well tolerated but is not associated with an increased likelihood of clinical improvement or reduced all-cause mortality by 28 days.