Efficacy and safety of Reduning injection in the treatment of COVID-19: a randomized, multicenter clinical study.

BACKGROUND: Reduning injection is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with known efficacy against a variety of viral infections, but there is no data about its efficacy against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). METHODS: To explore the efficacy and safety of Reduning injection in the treatment of COVID-19, a randomized, open-labeled, multicenter, controlled trial was conducted from 12 general hospitals between 2020.02.06 and 2020.03.23. Patients with COVID-19 who met the diagnostic criteria of the "Diagnosis and Treatment Program for Novel Coronavirus Infection Pneumonia (Trial Fifth Edition)". Patients were randomized to routine treatment with or without Reduning injection (20 mL/day for 14 days) (ChiCTR2000029589). The primary endpoint was the rate of achieving clinical symptom recovery on day 14 of treatment. RESULTS: There were 77 and 80 participants in the Reduning and control groups. The symptom resolution rate at 14 days was higher in the Reduning injection than in controls [full-analysis set (FAS): 84.4% vs. 60.0%, P=0.0004]. Compared with controls, the Reduning group showed shorter median time to resolution of the clinical symptoms (143 vs. 313.5 h, P<0.001), shorter to nucleic acid test turning negative (146.5 vs. 255.5 h, P<0.001), shorter hospital stay (14.1 vs. 18.1 days, P<0.001), and shorter time to defervescence (29 vs. 71 h, P<0.001). There was no difference in AEs (3.9% vs. 8.8%, P=0.383). CONCLUSIONS: This preliminary trial suggests that Reduning injection might be effective and safe in patients with symptomatic COVID-19.

Clinical Characteristics of Children with Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Hubei, China.

Since December 2019, COVID-19 has occurred unexpectedly and emerged as a health problem worldwide. Despite the rapidly increasing number of cases in subsequent weeks, the clinical characteristics of pediatric cases are rarely described. A cross-sectional multicenter study was carried out in 10 hospitals across Hubei province. A total of 25 confirmed pediatric cases of COVID-19 were collected. The demographic data, epidemiological history, underlying diseases, clinical manifestations, laboratory and radiological data, treatments, and outcomes were analyzed. Of 25 hospitalized patients with COVID-19, the boy to girl ratio was 1.27:1. The median age was 3 years. COVID-19 cases in children aged <3 years, 3.6 years, and ≥6-years patients were 10 (40%), 6 (24%), and 9 (36%), respectively. The most common symptoms at onset of illness were fever (13 [52%]), and dry cough (11 [44%]). Chest CT images showed essential normal in 8 cases (33.3%), unilateral involvement of lungs in 5 cases (20.8%), and bilateral involvement in 11 cases (45.8%). Clinical diagnoses included upper respiratory tract infection (n=8), mild pneumonia (n=15), and critical cases (n=2). Two critical cases (8%) were given invasive mechanical ventilation, corticosteroids, and immunoglobulin. The symptoms in 24 (96%) of 25 patients were alleviated and one patient had been discharged. It was concluded that children were susceptible to COVID-19 like adults, while the clinical presentations and outcomes were more favorable in children. However, children less than 3 years old accounted for majority cases and critical cases lied in this age group, which demanded extra attentions during home caring and hospitalization treatment.