Can antiviral drugs address the treatment challenges of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome? - a systematic meta-analysis

Background: Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging infectious disease with high mortality and severity rates. However, there is no clear treatment plan, specific effective antiviral drugs, or effective vaccine for SFTS. Recent studies have shown that the therapeutic effec...

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Main Authors: Lumeng Shen, Mingfang Han, Jingjing Lou, Wenya Shen, Shibo Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries 2024-11-01
Series:Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
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Online Access:https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/19032
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author Lumeng Shen
Mingfang Han
Jingjing Lou
Wenya Shen
Shibo Li
author_facet Lumeng Shen
Mingfang Han
Jingjing Lou
Wenya Shen
Shibo Li
author_sort Lumeng Shen
collection DOAJ
description Background: Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging infectious disease with high mortality and severity rates. However, there is no clear treatment plan, specific effective antiviral drugs, or effective vaccine for SFTS. Recent studies have shown that the therapeutic effect of Ribavirin and other commonly used antiviral drugs such as Favipiravir (T-705), on SFTS is still controversial. This meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of antiviral drugs on SFTS. Methods: Relevant studies were searched from Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase. and PubMed from inception to June 30, 2022, and updated to 2023. The study screening, data extraction, and quality assessment were conducted by re-searchers independently. A counterpart assessment tool was used to assess methodological quality, and the Stata15 software was employed to perform meta-analysis. Results: The meta-analysis included 8 studies consisting of 4692 patients. The results showed no significant difference in the mortality rate of SFTS patients between the antiviral drug group and the control group (HR: 0.85, 95% CI: 0.46–1.59, p = 0.618). Antiviral drugs had no noticeable effect on this disease (RR: 0.93, 95% CI: 0.58–1.48, p = 0.747). Conclusions: At present, antiviral drugs (Ribavirin and Favipiravir) used routinely in clinics show no positive effect on the treatment of SFTS yet and fail to reduce the mortality rate. On the other hand, clinical studies specifically evaluating viral load found that antiviral drugs were effective in the treatment of SFTS patients with low viral load, but the efficacy was not statistically significant.
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spelling doaj-art-a4d0ab0f1bc34a3d8e24d0a4b0599fc52025-08-20T02:16:17ZengThe Journal of Infection in Developing CountriesJournal of Infection in Developing Countries1972-26802024-11-01181110.3855/jidc.19032Can antiviral drugs address the treatment challenges of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome? - a systematic meta-analysisLumeng Shen0Mingfang Han1Jingjing Lou2Wenya Shen3Shibo Li4Department of Infectious Diseases, Zhoushan Hospital, Zhoushan, ChinaDepartment of Infectious Diseases, Zhoushan Hospital, Zhoushan, ChinaDepartment of Digestive System, Zhoushan Hospital, Zhoushan, ChinaDepartment of Infectious Diseases, Zhoushan Hospital, Zhoushan, ChinaDepartment of Administrative, Zhoushan Hospital, Zhoushan, China Background: Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging infectious disease with high mortality and severity rates. However, there is no clear treatment plan, specific effective antiviral drugs, or effective vaccine for SFTS. Recent studies have shown that the therapeutic effect of Ribavirin and other commonly used antiviral drugs such as Favipiravir (T-705), on SFTS is still controversial. This meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of antiviral drugs on SFTS. Methods: Relevant studies were searched from Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase. and PubMed from inception to June 30, 2022, and updated to 2023. The study screening, data extraction, and quality assessment were conducted by re-searchers independently. A counterpart assessment tool was used to assess methodological quality, and the Stata15 software was employed to perform meta-analysis. Results: The meta-analysis included 8 studies consisting of 4692 patients. The results showed no significant difference in the mortality rate of SFTS patients between the antiviral drug group and the control group (HR: 0.85, 95% CI: 0.46–1.59, p = 0.618). Antiviral drugs had no noticeable effect on this disease (RR: 0.93, 95% CI: 0.58–1.48, p = 0.747). Conclusions: At present, antiviral drugs (Ribavirin and Favipiravir) used routinely in clinics show no positive effect on the treatment of SFTS yet and fail to reduce the mortality rate. On the other hand, clinical studies specifically evaluating viral load found that antiviral drugs were effective in the treatment of SFTS patients with low viral load, but the efficacy was not statistically significant. https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/19032SFTSribavirinantiviralmeta-analysisfavipiravir (T-705)
spellingShingle Lumeng Shen
Mingfang Han
Jingjing Lou
Wenya Shen
Shibo Li
Can antiviral drugs address the treatment challenges of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome? - a systematic meta-analysis
Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
SFTS
ribavirin
antiviral
meta-analysis
favipiravir (T-705)
title Can antiviral drugs address the treatment challenges of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome? - a systematic meta-analysis
title_full Can antiviral drugs address the treatment challenges of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome? - a systematic meta-analysis
title_fullStr Can antiviral drugs address the treatment challenges of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome? - a systematic meta-analysis
title_full_unstemmed Can antiviral drugs address the treatment challenges of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome? - a systematic meta-analysis
title_short Can antiviral drugs address the treatment challenges of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome? - a systematic meta-analysis
title_sort can antiviral drugs address the treatment challenges of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome a systematic meta analysis
topic SFTS
ribavirin
antiviral
meta-analysis
favipiravir (T-705)
url https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/19032
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