Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32309809›Full record

ReviewArchives of academic emergency medicine2020

Antiviral therapy in management of COVID-19: a systematic review on current evidence.

Mahmoud Yousefifard, Alireza Zali, Kosar Mohamed Ali, Arian Madani Neishaboori, Afshin Zarghi, Mostafa Hosseini, Saeed Safari

Open access · greenAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC
In one paragraph

Review in Archives of academic emergency medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
36citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
1.8field-weighted citation impact, top 8% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

36 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 73 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  3. Characteristics of published/registered clinical trials on COVID-19 treatment: A systematic review.Daru : journal of Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences · 2021
    Pooled it
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  18. COVID-19: Where is the treatment?World journal of clinical oncology · 2021
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Mahmoud YousefifardPhysiology Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Alireza ZaliFunctional Neurosurgery Research Center, Shohada Tajrish Neurosurgical Comprehensive Center of Excellence, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Kosar Mohamed AliCollege of medicine, University of Sulaimani, Sulaimani, Iraq.
Arian Madani NeishabooriPhysiology Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Afshin ZarghiDepartment of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Mostafa HosseiniPediatric Chronic Kidney Disease Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran Iran.
Saeed SafariProteomics Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences · IRIran University of Medical Sciences · IRTehran University of Medical Sciences · IR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe purpose of the current systematic review is to evaluate the efficacy of antiviral therapies in treatment of COVID-19. In addition, clinical trials on the efficacy of antiviral therapies in the management of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (SARS-Cov) or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) have also been reviewed, in order to identify potential treatment options for COVID-19.

methodAn extensive search was performed in Medline, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science and CENTRAL databases until the end of March 15, 2020. Two independent researchers performed the screening, and finally the related studies were included.

resultsOnly one clinical trial on the efficacy of antiviral therapy in management of COVID-19 was found. The results depicted that adding Lopinavir-Ritonavir to the standard treatment regimen of patients with severe COVID-19 has no benefits. Moreover, 21 case-series and case-report studies reported the prescription of antiviral agents in COVID-19, none of which can be used to determine the efficacy of antiviral therapies in confronting COVID-19. In addition, no clinical trials were found to be performed on the efficacy of antiviral agents in the management of SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV.

conclusionThe current evidence impede researchers from proposing an appropriate antiviral therapy against COVID-19, making the current situation a serious concern for international organizations such as World Health Organization (WHO). In the time of the current pandemic and future epidemics, organizations such as WHO should pursue more proactive actions and plan well-designed clinical trials so that their results can be used in managing future epidemics.

Indexed as

Antiviral TherapyCOVID-19Treatment

Identifiers

PMID32309809
PMCPMC7156260
OpenAlexW3016986108

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.