Effect of Corticosteroid Therapy on the Duration of SARS-CoV-2 Clearance in Patients with Mild COVID-19: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Introduction In December, 2019, an outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which was caused by a novel coronavirus, started in Wuhan, China. So far, there is limited clinical evidence on the effect of corticosteroid therapy for this disease. This study aims to investigate the association between corticosteroid therapy and the duration of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) clearance among patients with mild COVID-19. Methods Patients with mild COVID-19 were enrolled from two medical centers in China between January 13, 2020 and February 29, 2020. Baseline characteristics and durations of RNA clearance were compared between the corticosteroid and non-corticosteroid therapy groups. The independent effects of corticosteroid therapy on the duration of RNA clearance were estimated by generalized linear models. Results Of 82 patients with a mild infection, 40 patients were male (48.8%), with a median age of 49 years (interquartile range, IQR 36–61). Among those patients, 36 patients (43.9%) received corticosteroid therapy. The adjusted multivariate models showed that the effects of corticosteroids were non-significant on the durations of onset to first RNA clearance [β 2.48, 95% CI (95% confidence interval) − 0.42 to 5.38, P = 0.0926] and to persistent RNA clearance (β 1.54, 95% CI − 1.41 to 4.48, P = 0.3016), and durations of therapy to first RNA clearance (β 2.16, 95% CI − 0.56 to 4.89, P = 0.1184) and to persistent RNA clearance (β 1.22, 95% CI − 1.52 to 3.95, P = 0.3787). Conclusions Corticosteroid therapy in patients with mild COVID-19 was not associated with the duration of SARS-CoV-2 clearance, suggesting that the use of corticosteroids may not be beneficial for patients with mild COVID-19 and should be prudently recommended in clinical practice. However, further studies are needed to verify the findings..

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2020

Erschienen:

2020

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:9

Enthalten in:

Infectious diseases and therapy - 9(2020), 4 vom: 28. Sept., Seite 943-952

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Ding, Cheng [VerfasserIn]
Feng, Xuewen [VerfasserIn]
Chen, Yanfei [VerfasserIn]
Yuan, Jing [VerfasserIn]
Yi, Ping [VerfasserIn]
Li, Yongtao [VerfasserIn]
Ni, Qin [VerfasserIn]
Zou, Rongrong [VerfasserIn]
Li, Xiaohe [VerfasserIn]
Sheng, Jifang [VerfasserIn]
Li, Lanjuan [VerfasserIn]
Xu, Kaijin [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext [kostenfrei]

Themen:

COVID-19
Corticosteroid
RNA clearance
SARS-CoV-2

doi:

10.1007/s40121-020-00337-y

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

SPR042044146