ArticleJournal of Zhejiang University. Science. B
Interferon-α2b spray inhalation did not shorten virus shedding time of SARS-CoV-2 in hospitalized patients: a preliminary matched case-control study.
Article in Journal of Zhejiang University. Science. B. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy of interferon alpha for the treatment of hospitalized patients with COVID-19: A meta-analysis.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Pooled it
- A systematic review of acute and emergency care interventions for adolescents and adults with severe acute respiratory infections including COVID-19 in low- and middle-income countries.Journal of global health · 2022Pooled it
- Immunomodulation as Treatment for Severe Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Systematic Review of Current Modalities and Future Directions.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2021Pooled it
- Epidemiological and Clinical Characteristics of COVID-19 in Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2020Pooled it
- Safety and efficacy of inhaled nebulised interferon beta-1a (SNG001) for treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2 trial.The Lancet. Respiratory medicine · 2021Trial
- Peg-IFNα reduces clinical severity but cannot prevent COVID-19 infection in chronic hepatitis B patients: a cohort study in China.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Therapeutic role of immunomodulators during the COVID-19 pandemic- a narrative review.Postgraduate medicine · 2022Review
- Current utilization of interferon alpha for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019: A comprehensive review.Cytokine & growth factor reviews · 2022Review
- Review: The Nose as a Route for Therapy. Part 2 Immunotherapy.Frontiers in allergy · 2021Review
- Topical Oral and Intranasal Antiviral Agents for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
17 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCurrently, there are no drugs that have been proven to be effective against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Because of its broad antiviral activity, interferon (IFN) should be evaluated as a potential therapeutic agent for treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), especially while COVID-19-specific therapies are still under development.
methodsConfirmed COVID-19 patients hospitalized in the First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China, from January 19 to February 19, 2020 were enrolled in a retrospective study. The patients were separated into an IFN group and a control group according to whether they received initial IFN-α2b inhalation treatment after admission. Propensity-score matching was used to balance the confounding factors.
resultsA total of 104 confirmed COVID-19 patients, 68 in the IFN group and 36 in the control group, were enrolled. Less hypertension (27.9% vs. 55.6%, P=0.006), dyspnea (8.8% vs. 25.0%, P=0.025), or diarrhea (4.4% vs. 19.4%, P=0.030) was observed in the IFN group. Lower levels of albumin and C-reactive protein and higher level of sodium were observed in the IFN group. Glucocorticoid dosage was lower in the IFN group (median, 40 vs. 80 mg/d, P=0.025). Compared to the control group, fewer patients in the IFN group were ventilated (13.2% vs. 33.3%, P=0.015) and admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) (16.2% vs. 44.4%, P=0.002). There were also fewer critical patients in the IFN group (7.4% vs. 25.0%, P=0.017) upon admission. Although complications during admission process were comparable between groups, the discharge rate (85.3% vs. 66.7%, P=0.027) was higher and the hospitalization time (16 vs. 21 d, P=0.015) was shorter in the IFN group. When other confounding factors were not considered, virus shedding time (10 vs. 13 d, P=0.014) was also shorter in the IFN group. However, when the influence of other factors was eliminated using propensity score matching, virus shedding time was not significantly shorter than that of the control group (12 vs. 15 d, P=0.206).
conclusionsIFN-α2b spray inhalation did not shorten virus shedding time of SARS-CoV-2 in hospitalized patients.
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