Does Famotidine Reduce the Risk of Progression to Severe Disease, Death, and Intubation for COVID-19 Patients? A Systemic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Famotidine was reported to potentially provide benefits to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. However, it remains controversial whether it is effective in treating COVID-19. AIMS: This study aimed to explore whether famotidine use is associated with reduced risk of the severity, death, and intubation for COVID-19 patients. METHODS: This study was registered on International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) (ID: CRD42020213536). A comprehensive search was performed to identify relevant studies up to October 2020. I-squared statistic and Q-test were utilized to assess the heterogeneity. Pooled risk ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated through the random effects or fixed effects model according to the heterogeneity. Subgroup analyses, sensitivity analysis, and publication bias assessment were also conducted. RESULTS: Five studies including 36,635 subjects were included. We found that famotidine use was associated with a statistically non-significant reduced risk of progression to severe disease, death, and intubation for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients (pooled RR was 0.82, 95% CI = 0.52-1.30, P = 0.40). CONCLUSION: Famotidine has no significant protective effect in reducing the risk of developing serious illness, death, and intubation for COVID-19 patients. More original studies are needed to further clarify whether it is associated with reduced risk of the severity, death, and intubation for COVID-19 patients.

Does Proton Pump Inhibitor Use Lead to a Higher Risk of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Infection and Progression to Severe Disease? a Meta-analysis.

The findings of previous research on the association between proton pump inhibitor (PPI) use and the treatment and prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are inconsistent. Therefore, this meta-analysis was conducted to clarify the outcomes of patients taking PPIs. This analysis included 14 articles with more than 268,683 subjects. PPI use was not associated with increased or decreased risk of COVID-19 infection (odds ratio [OR] 1.64, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.54-5.00, P = 0.39) or mortality (OR = 1.91, 95% CI = 0.86-4.24, P = 0.11). However, PPI use increased the risks of severe disease (OR 1.67, 95% CI = 1.37-2.02, P < 0.00001) and secondary infection (OR 4.62, 95% CI = 2.55-8.39, P < 0.00001). In summary, PPI use was not associated with an increased risk of infection and mortality in COVID-19 but appeared to be associated with an increased risk of progression to severe disease and secondary infection. However, more original studies are urgently needed to further clarify the relationship between PPI use and COVID-19.