Effect of early oseltamivir on COVID-19-suspected outpatients without hypoxia.

Background: Since December 2019, COVID-19 (corona virus disease 2019) outbreaks has occurred in China and many countries around the world. We evaluate the effectiveness of oseltamivir on COVID-19-suspected outpatients without hypoxia. Methods We studied 13 COVID-19-suspected medical staffs and their cohabitation families without hypoxia, who came to our adult fever clinic from March to May 2020. All patients received antiviral therapy (oseltamivir) and antibacterial therapy together. Results Most of the infected patients were female (8 [62%]); less than half had diabetes (one [8%]) and hypertension (three [23%]). Median age was 45 years (IQR 26–53). Oseltamivir administration made the temperature fall within 24 hours in part (8 [62%]). Clinical data were compared between patients receiving early treatment (ET) with oseltamivir, initiated within 24 hours, and patients administered late treatment (LT), initiated after this time point. Duration of fever was shorter in the ET group than in the LT group (33 ± 24 versus 94 ± 38 hours; p < 0.01). The time from fever onset to treatment initiation correlated with duration of fever (r = 0.74; p < 0.01) and the time from peak to decline (r = 0.55; p < 0.05). Conclusions Our findings suggest that early oseltamivir administration may lower the duration of fever in COVID-19-suspected outpatients without hypoxia when it is used in combination with antibacterial therapy.