Prolonged SARS-CoV-2 Viral Shedding in Patients with COVID-19 was Associated with Delayed Initiation of Arbidol Treatment and Consulting Doctor Later: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

To study data about SARS-CoV-2 virus shedding and clarify the risk factors for prolonged virus shedding. Data were retrospectively collected from adults hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) in Wuhan Union Hospital. We compared clinical features among patients with prolonged (a positive SARS-CoV-2 RNA on day 23 after illness onset) and short virus shedding and evaluated risk factors associated with prolonged virus shedding by multivariate regression analysis. Among 238 patients, the median age was 55.5 years, 57.1% were female, 92.9% (221/238) were administered with arbidol, 58.4% (139/238) were given arbidol in combination with interferon. The median duration of SARS-CoV-2 virus shedding was 23 days (IQR, 17.8–30 days) with a longest one of 51 days. The patients with prolonged virus shedding had higher value of D-dimer (P=0.002), IL-6 (P 8 days after symptom onset [OR: 2.447, 95% CI (1.351–4.431)], ≥3 days from onset of symptoms to first medical visitation [OR: 1.880, 95% CI (1.035–3.416)], illness onset before Jan. 31, 2020 [OR: 3.289, 95% CI (1.474–7.337)]. Arbidol in combination with interferon was also significantly associated with shorter virus shedding [OR: 0.363, 95% CI (0.191–0.690)]. Duration of SARS-CoV-2 virus shedding was long. Early initiation of arbidol and arbidol in combination with interferon as well as consulting doctor timely after illness onset were helpful for SARS-CoV-2 clearance.