Arbidol/IFN-α2b Therapy for Patients With Corona Virus Disease 2019: A Retrospective Multicenter Cohort Study

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.micinf.2020.05.012

This is a multicenter retrospective cohort study of patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infection pneumonia from 3 hospitals in Hubei and Guangdong province, 141 adults (aged ≥18 years) without ventilation were included. Combined group patients were given Arbidol and IFN-α2b, monotherapy group patients inhaled IFN-α2b for 10-14 days.  The duration of viral RNA of respiratory tract in the monotherapy group was not longer than that in the combined therapy group. There was no significant differences between two groups. The absorption of pneumonia in the combined group was faster than that in the monotherapy group. We inferred that Arbidol/IFN – 2b therapy can be used as an effective method to improve the COVID-19 pneumonia of mild patients, although it helpless with accelerating the virus clearance.