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THURSDAY, April 23, 2020 (HealthDay News) — For patients hospitalized with mild\/moderate COVID-19, lopinavir\/ritonavir (LPV\/r) or umifenovir (Arbidol) monotherapy offers little benefit, according to a study published online April 17 in Med<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Yueping Li, M.D., Ph.D., from the Guangzhou Eighth People’s Hospital in China, and colleagues conducted an exploratory randomized trial assessing the efficacy and safety of LPV\/r or umifenovir monotherapy for treating patients with mild\/moderate COVID-19. Eighty-six patients were enrolled, with 34 randomly assigned to LPV\/r, 35 to umifenovir, and 17 to no antiviral medication as control. Umifenovir is an antiviral treatment for influenza infection currently only used in Russia and China.<\/p>\n
The researchers found that the rate of positive-to-negative conversion of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 nucleic acid (primary end point) was similar between the groups. No between-group differences were seen in secondary end points of rates of antipyresis, cough alleviation, or improvement of chest computed tomography at days 7 or 14. At day 7, a deterioration in clinical status from moderate to severe\/critical was seen for 23.5, 8.6, and 11.8 percent of patients in the LPV\/r, umifenovir, and control groups, respectively. During the follow-up period, 35.3 and 14.3 percent of patients in the LPV\/r and umifenovir groups, respectively, experienced adverse events. In the control group, there were no adverse events reported.<\/p>\n
“Our findings suggest that we need to cautiously consider before using these drugs,” Li said in a statement. “Researchers need to keep working to find a really effective antiviral regimen against COVID-19, but meanwhile, any conclusions about antiviral regimens need strict and scientific clinical trials and appropriate caution.”<\/p>\n