Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32344167›Full record

ArticleClinical microbiology and infection : the official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases2020

Umifenovir treatment is not associated with improved outcomes in patients with coronavirus disease 2019: a retrospective study.

N Lian, H Xie, S Lin, J Huang, J Zhao, Q Lin

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Clinical microbiology and infection : the official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 129 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
129citing papers in PubMed, 7 pooled it
6.0field-weighted citation impact, top 3% 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

129 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 237 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Antibiotic prescribing in patients with COVID-19: rapid review and meta-analysis.Clinical microbiology and infection : the official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases · 2021
    Pooled it
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  4. Is there any potential management against COVID-19? A systematic review and meta-analysis.Daru : journal of Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences · 2020
    Pooled it
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  7. Guideline
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  9. Interferon-α2b Treatment for COVID-19.Frontiers in immunology · 2020
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  11. Plausible mechanism of drug resistance and side-effects of COVID-19 therapeutics: a bottleneck for its eradication.Daru : journal of Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences · 2024
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69 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

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

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

N LianDepartment of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China.
H XieDepartment of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China.
S LinLiver Research Centre, The First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China.
J HuangDepartment of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China.
J ZhaoDepartment of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China.
Q LinDepartment of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China. Electronic address: linqc_fy@126.com.
Fujian Medical University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Umifenovir (Arbidol®) is an antiviral drug being used to treat influenza in Russia and China. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness and safety of umifenovir for COVID-19.

methodsA retrospective study was performed in a non-intensive care unit (ICU) ward in Jinyintan Hospital from 2 February 2020 to 20 March 2020. COVID-19 was confirmed by real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay of pharyngeal swab specimens. The confirmed patients were divided into the umifenovir group and the control group according to the use of umifenovir. The main outcomes were the rate of negative pharyngeal swab tests for SARS-CoV-2 within 1 week after admission and the time for the virus to turn negative. The negativity time of SARS-CoV-2 was defined as the first day of a negative test if the nucleic acid of SARS-CoV-2 was negative for two consecutive tests.

resultsA total of 81 COVID-19 patients were included, with 45 in the umifenovir group and 36 in the control group. Baseline clinical and laboratory characteristics were comparable between the two groups. Thirty-three out of 45 (73%) patients in the umifenovir group tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 within 7 days after admission, the number was 28/36 (78%) in the control group (p 0.19). The median time from onset of symptoms to SARS-CoV-2 turning negative was 18 days (interquartile range (IQR) 12-21) in the umifenovir group and 16 days (IQR 11-21) in the control group (p 0.42). Patients in the umifenovir group had a longer hospital stay than patients in the control group (13 days (IQR 9-17) vs 11 days (IQR 9-14), p 0.04). No deaths or severe adverse reactions were found in both groups. DISCUSSION: Umifenovir might not improve the prognosis or accelerate SARS-CoV-2 clearance in non-ICU patients. A randomized control clinical trial is needed to assess the efficacy of umifenovir.

Indexed as

AgedAntiviral AgentsBetacoronavirusCoronavirus InfectionsCOVID-19FemaleHumansIndolesLength of StayMaleMiddle AgedPandemicsPneumonia, ViralRetrospective StudiesReverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain ReactionSARS-CoV-2Antiviral AgentsIndolesSulfidesumifenovirAntiviral interventionArbidolCorona virus disease 2019EffectivenessUmifenovir

Identifiers

PMID32344167
PMCPMC7182750
OpenAlexW3019081439

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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.