Use of Favipiravir in Covid-19 Patients: A Narrative Review

Vitarani Dwi Ananda Ningrum, Annisa Fitria, Fadiyah Ulfa Hanur

Abstract

COVID-19 is an acute respiratory disease resulting from the infection of SARS-COV-2 viruses and causes high morbidity, which requires appropriate treatment targets. Favipiravir is an antiviral that selectively inhibits RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) of virus. This review aims to identify several studies that prove the effectiveness and safety of using Favipiravir for COVID-19 patients. The search method used the electronic media PubMed and ScienceDirect with the keywords "Efficacy", "Favipiravir", "Treatment", "Safety", SARS-COV-2", and "Favipiravir induced", accompanied by the addition of the affixes "AND" and "OR" and selection by the publication date starting December 2019. The literature search resulted in eight (8) published articles that met the exclusion and inclusion criteria. The results of the review show that concurrent administration of Favipiravir and Lopinavir/Ritonavir or Chloroquine, with a dosage of Favipiravir of 3200 mg/day followed by 1200 mg/day each in 2 divided doses, is considered adequate for improving the clinical symptoms of COVID-19 patients with mild-moderate symptoms in early administration. Meanwhile, administering Favipiravir with anti-IL-6 Tocilizumab for patients with severe symptoms shows a fairly good effect. The most frequently reported ADE (adverse drug events) in the use of Favipiravir are hyperuricemia and elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels. This review concludes that the best clinical response to Favipiravir is shown in COVID-19 patients with mild-to-moderate early symptoms.

Keywords

COVID-19; favipiravir; treatment

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.20961/jpscr.v9i1.73629

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