The risk factors and related hospitalizations for cases with positive and negative COVID-19 tests: A case-control study.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk factors for hospitalizations of cases with positive and negative COVID-19 tests. METHODS: In this case-control study, the case and control groups consisted of 292 COVID-19 patients and 296 non-COVID-19 patients. Patients who referred to a reference laboratory in Tehran (Iran) in March 2020 were selected and interviewed. The patients were contacted by telephone and data were recorded through a questionnaire. RESULTS: The sample of this study consisted of 588 patients (349 [59%] females, 239 [41%] males) with a mean age of 42 ± 15. The results of this study showed that comorbidities like diabetes (OR = 7.42), hypertension (OR = 4.85), asthma and respiratory diseases (OR = 5.64) in addition to symptoms including fever (OR = 6.67), chills (OR = 11.2), anorexia (OR = 11.3), dyspnea (OR = 4.8), weakness and lethargy (OR = 5.7) were the most predictive variables for hospitalization of non-COVID-19 cases. Furthermore, demographical variables like male gender (OR = 3.71), high age (>50; OR = 3.12), BMI (>25; OR = 2.37), travel (OR = 2.79), comorbidities including diabetes (OR = 5.26), hypertension (OR = 3.7) and underlying immunosuppressant patients receiving corticosteroid therapy (OR = 3.62) in addition to symptoms like anorexia [OR = 2.55] and dyspnea (OR = 6.99) tend to increase the risk of hospital admission in COVID-19 patients, suggesting their predictive values for hospitalization of COVID-19 patients. CONCLUSION: Our results indicated that different factors tend to increase the odds of hospital admission in patients with positive and negative COVID-19 tests, suggesting their predictive values for hospitalization.

Safety and efficacy of Favipiravir in moderate to severe SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia.

BACKGROUND: We examined the safety and efficacy of a treatment protocol containing Favipiravir for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2. METHODS: We did a multicenter randomized open-labeled clinical trial on moderate to severe cases infections of SARS-CoV-2. Patients with typical ground glass appearance on chest computerized tomography scan (CT scan) and oxygen saturation (SpO2) of less than 93% were enrolled. They were randomly allocated into Favipiravir (1.6 gr loading, 1.8 gr daily) and Lopinavir/Ritonavir (800/200 mg daily) treatment regimens in addition to standard care. In-hospital mortality, ICU admission, intubation, time to clinical recovery, changes in daily SpO2 after 5 min discontinuation of supplemental oxygen, and length of hospital stay were quantified and compared in the two groups. RESULTS: 380 patients were randomly allocated into Favipiravir (193) and Lopinavir/Ritonavir (187) groups in 13 centers. The number of deaths, intubations, and ICU admissions were not significantly different (26, 27, 31 and 21, 17, 25 respectively). Mean hospital stay was also not different (7.9 days [SD = 6] in the Favipiravir and 8.1 [SD = 6.5] days in Lopinavir/Ritonavir groups) (p = 0.61). Time to clinical recovery in the Favipiravir group was similar to Lopinavir/Ritonavir group (HR = 0.94, 95% CI 0.75 - 1.17) and likewise the changes in the daily SpO2 after discontinuation of supplemental oxygen (p = 0.46) CONCLUSION: Adding Favipiravir to the treatment protocol did not reduce the number of ICU admissions or intubations or In-hospital mortality compared to Lopinavir/Ritonavir regimen. It also did not shorten time to clinical recovery and length of hospital stay.