ABSTRACT
Objectives: Since its first appearance in Wuhan December 2019, SARS-CoV2 virus received great attention due to its severe symptoms and high spread causing COVID-19 disease which spread all over the world like a pandemic. The causative virus is capable of human-to-human transmission via droplet and direct contact suggesting that upper respiratory tract is the main site to virus manifestations. There is a great diversity in its clinical picture, although the severe respiratory and neurological symptoms are commonly present;however, other symptoms are present. Although otological manifestations are reported in many COVID-19 patients even in asymptomatic cases, they did not receive much attention compared with other critical manifestations. In this article, we paid our attention specifically to the otological manifestations of COVID-19 and their relevance either to the virus infection, treatment, or vaccination through literature review. Conclusion(s): COVID-19 disease has a deleterious effect on the inner ear. This effect is not only due to SARS-Cov-2 infection, but it could be also due to the ototoxic drugs used for treatment. The COVID-19 vaccinations are found to be implicated in the otological symptoms in some cases.Copyright © 2022, The Author(s).
ABSTRACT
Objective: To identify which induced the symptoms/signs and laboratory abnormal findings occurred in patients with novel coronavirus pneumonia, by disease itself or by ribavirin and interferon-alpha treatments, through mining the adverse events (AEs) signals of the 2 antivirus agents. Method(s): According to the symptoms/signs and laboratory abnormal findings of novel coronavirus pneumonia mentioned in the literature and "Diagnosis and Treatment scheme of Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia (trial version 5)", AEs in this study were selected. Related data were collected from the U.S. FDA Adverse Events Reporting System (FARES) from Jan 1, 2004 to Dec 31, 2019, and the reporting odds ratio (ROR) method was used for signals detection for the above-mentioned 2 drugs. Result(s): A total of 7 582 463 AEs related to drugs were reported in the FAERS database, of which 31 775 related to ribavirin and 2 345 related to interferon-alpha. The results showed that AEs related to ribavirin in respiratory, thoracic, and mediastinal disorders were nasal congestion, cough, laryngeal pain, pharyngeal oedema, productive cough, and dyspnoea;AEs related to interferon-alpha were laryngeal pain and haemoptysis. In other system organ class, AEs related to above 2 drugs were pyrexia, feeling cold, pyrexia, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, headache, arthralgia, myalgia, and rash. AEs of laboratory abnormal results related to ribavirin were white blood cell/platelet count decrease and aspartate/alanine aminotransferase increase;AEs related to interferon-alpha were white blood cell/platelet count decrease, aspartate/alanine aminotransferase increase, and lymphocyte count decrease. Conclusion(s): Some AEs induced by ribavirin and interferon-alpha were similar to symptoms/signs and laboratory abnormal findings of novel coronavirus pneumonia, which should be distinguished in the clinical practice.Copyright © 2020 by the Chinese Medical Association.
ABSTRACT
Antiviral therapy is important for COVID-19. Currently, the anti-2019-nCoV drugs in clinical trials include broad-spectrum antiviral drugs (alpha interferon and ribavirin), hemagglutinin inhibitors (arbidol), human immunodeficiency virus protease inhibitors (lopinavir/ritonavir and darunavir/cobicistat), nucleoside analogues (favipiravir and remdesivir) and antimalarial drug (chloroquine);while liver damage may occur in some patients with the medication. This article reviews the research on liver damage associated with anti-2019-nCoV drugs, aiming at promoting the safe and effective antiviral therapy for COVID-19 patients.Copyright © 2020 by the Chinese Medical Association.
ABSTRACT
Targeted therapeutics for SARS-CoV-2 virus caused COVID-19 are in urgent need. Chansu has been reported to have broad-spectrum antiviral effects and widely used in Southeast Asian countries. This study aims to assess the efficacy of Chansu injection in treating patients with severe COVID-19. A randomized preliminary clinical trial was conducted and eligible patients were allocated to receive general treatment plus Chansu injection or only general treatment as control for 7 days. The primary outcomes of the oxygenation index PaO2/FiO2 and ROX, secondary outcomes of white blood cell count, respiratory support step-down time (RSST), safety indicators, etc were monitored. After 7 days of treatment, the oxygenation index was improved in 95.2% patients in the treatment group compared with 68.4% in the control group. The PaO2/FiO2 and ROX indices in the treatment group (mean, 226.27+/-67.35 and 14.01+/-3.99 respectively) were significantly higher than the control group (mean, 143.23+/-51.29 and 9.64+/-5.54 respectively). The RSST was 1 day shorter in the treatment group. Multivariate regression analysis suggested that Chansu injection contributed the most to the outcome of PaO2/FiO2. No obvious adverse effects were observed. The preliminary data showed that Chansu injection had apparent efficacy in improving the respiratory function of patients with severe COVID-19.Copyright © 2021 The Authors