Retrospective Study of Early Use of Remdesivir in Patients with Severe COVID-19 (Single Center Experience)

Abstract

Background:

Remdesivir is the first treatment for COVID-19 to receive FDA approval. On October 22. 2020, the antiviral drug Remdesivir was approved to treat COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization.

Objectives of the study:

  To compare the effect of timing of Remdesivir administration on the duration of hospitalization and clinical outcome of hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19 in Imam Al-Hussain medical city, those who received Remdesivir early; in the first week, with others who received it in the second week of the onset of the symptoms.

Patients and methods:

  A retrospective study was done in Imam al-Hussain medical city in Karbala province. The data was collected from 139 patients' registry (84 male&54 female) with severe COVID-19 infection who admitted to the isolation wards, 68(48.6%) received Remdesivir in the first week, and 71(51.1%) received it in the second week from the onset of symptoms. A comparison was made between the two groups regarding the clinical outcome and duration of hospitalization.

Result:

During the first week from the onset of the symptoms, about 48.9% of patients with severe infection received Remdesivir, 95.6% of them improved, and 4.4% died. The median time of recovery was six days. About 51.1% received Remdesivir during the second week, 84.5% improved, and 15.5% died. The median time of recovery was 8.5 days.

Conclusions:

The case fatality rate was lower in patients who received Remdesivir during the first week from the onset of symptoms than patients who received treatment in the second week. Patients in the first group recovered substantially faster than those in the second one.

Key words: COVID-19, Remdesivir