Abstract
Objectives: Comparative data on hydroxychloroquine and favipiravir, commonly used agents in the treatment of Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19), are still limited. In this study, it was aimed to compare treatment outcomes in healthcare workers with COVID-19 who were prospectively followed by the occupational health and safety unit.
Methods: A total of 237 healthcare-workers, diagnosed as mild or moderate COVID-19 between March 11, 2020 and January 1, 2021, were given hydroxychloroquine (n = 114) or favipiravir (n = 123). Clinical and laboratory findings were evaluated.
Results: The mean age of the patients was 33.4±11.5 years. The mean time to negative PCR was found to be significantly shorter in patients receiving favipiravir compared to the hydroxychloroquine group (10.9 vs. 13.9 days; p < 0.001). The rate of hospitalization in the hydroxychloroquine group was significantly higher than favipiravir group (15.8% vs. 3.3%). In terms of side effects; the frequency of diarrhea in patients receiving hydroxychloroquine was significantly higher than that in the favipiravir group (31.6% vs. 6.5%; p < 0.001).
Conclusions: Favipiravir and hydroxychloroquine were similar in terms of improvement of clinical symptoms of healthcare workers with mild or moderate COVID-19 infection, but favipiravir was significantly more effective in reducing viral load and hospitalization rates. Furthermore, favipiravir caused significantly less side-effects than hydroxychloroquine.
Keywords: COVID-19; Favipiravir; Healthcare workers; Hydroxychloroquine; SARS-CoV-2.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, Healthcare workers, Hydroxychloroquine, Favipiravir, SARS-CoV-2., 【초록키워드】 Treatment, coronavirus disease, SARS-CoV-2, Treatment outcome, Healthcare workers, Hydroxychloroquine, Clinical symptoms, Hospitalization, Infection, Favipiravir, diarrhea, healthcare worker, occupational health, Moderate COVID-19, Laboratory, coronavirus disease-2019, Health, COVID-19 infection, Viral load, clinical, Patient, Mild, age, Side effects, Frequency, followed by, Comparative, Side-effect, hydroxychloroquine group, clinical symptom, Negative PCR, effective, caused, significantly more, significantly, the patient, diagnosed, evaluated, receiving, less, were given, reducing, significantly higher, significantly shorter, with COVID-19, 【제목키워드】 Hydroxychloroquine, Favipiravir, healthcare worker, Laboratory,