Evaluation of enisamium iodide’s impact on the clinical course of acute respiratory viral infections, influenza and COVID-19 in outpatients

Background. Acute respiratory viral infections (ARVI) rank first in the general structure of infectious pathology and remain a critical problem of healthcare systems. ARVI pathogens can spread rapidly among human population, become resistant to antiviral drugs, cause severe diseases and are associated with secondary complications. The purpose of the study was to analyse the effectiveness of enisamium iodide in the treatment of outpatients with an established diagnosis of acute respiratory viral infection, influenza or COVID-19 by studying the changes in the main clinical manifestations of the disease. Materials and methods. The study included a large-scale recruitment of outpatients (n = 6114) with an established diagnosis of acute respiratory viral infection, influenza and COVID-19, who were prescribed enisamium iodide as part of comprehensive treatment, with subsequent retrospective analysis of completed questionnaires. Changes in the severity of the following clinical manifestations were studied: sore throat, cough, runny nose and nasal congestion, shortness of breath and difficulty breathing, body temperature. The questionnaires used 4 gradations of symptom severity, including absence of symptoms, mild, moderate and significant severity of symptoms. The relevant data were collected on the day of the first consultation with a doctor, as well as on the third and fifth days of treatment. Results. According to the results obtained, the largest share of diseases was represented by cases of ARVI — 82.51 % (95% CI: 81.58–83.44). COVID-19 was diagnosed in 11.60 % of patients (95% CI: 10.82–12.38), the smallest share belonged to influenza — 5.89 % (95% CI: 5.32–6.47). The proportion of patients in whom complaints of sore throat disappeared on the fifth day of treatment was 67.59 versus 7.19 % on the day of the first visit, with an absolute increase of 60.40 % (95% CI: 58.59–62.14). Identical trends were observed for all analysed clinical manifestations in the indicated observation intervals: cough — 45.87 versus 10.34 %, an increase of 35.53 % (95% CI: 33.55–37.47); shortness of breath and difficulty breathing — 90.16 versus 55.83 %, an absolute increase of 34.33 % (95% CI: 32.37–36.25); runny nose and nasal congestion — 48.89 versus 5.00 %, an absolute increase of 43.89 % (95% CI: 42.10–45.62); normalization of body temperature — 71.89 versus 1.67 %, an absolute increase of 70.22 % (95% CI: 68.76–71.59). Conclusions. According to the results of the study, enisamium iodide was highly effective in the treatment of outpatients with a diagnosis of ARVI, influenza or COVID-19. Analysis of the main clinical symptoms (cough, shortness of breath and difficulty breathing, fever, runny nose and nasal congestion, sore throat) revealed a statistically significant improvement in the patients’ state already on the fifth day from the start of therapy compared to the first day, both in terms of reducing the severity of an individual symptom and its disappearance. Thus, the data obtained indicate the high clinical effectiveness of enisamium iodide in reducing the severity of symptoms of acute respiratory viral infections.