Meta- analysis of randomized clinical trials on the efficacy of Riamilovir in the etiotropic treatment of acute respiratory viral infections in school-age children

Objective. To carry out a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials to objectively evaluate the results of clinical trials of the efficacy of the drug Triazavirin® (Riamilovir, capsules, 100 mg) in etiotropic therapy of acute respiratory viral infections in children 6-17 years old. Patients and methods. The study included 491 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of acute respiratory viral infection, with laboratory-confirmed absence of influenza virus antigens. The study was conducted in 10 centers, patients were randomized into 2 groups: main group (Riamilovir) and control group (placebo) in a 1:1 ratio. In the study involving children 6–11 years of age, the distribution was: 130 children (riamilovir group at a dose of 200 mg/day) and 129 children in the control group. In the study involving children 12–17 years of age, 117 children were included (Riamilovir at a dose of 500 mg/day) and 115 children in the control group. The study was conducted in full compliance with the PRISMA principles for the quality of reporting of systematic reviews and meta-analyses of studies evaluating medical interventions. Results. The meta-analysis of the results of randomized multicenter comparative double-blind controlled clinical trials of efficacy and safety of Riamilovir (Triazavirin®) in the treatment of school-aged children (6–17 years old) diagnosed with acute respiratory viral infections confirmed the reliability of the relationship between the use of Riamilovir and the chance of persistent improvement of clinical symptoms on the 5th day of therapy. In addition, the meta-analysis confirmed the statistical significance of the clinical effects of the drug by such indicators as the area under the curve “score on the severity scale of the patient with acute respiratory infection – time” throughout the study, the proportion of patients with complete disappearance of all symptoms by the end of the 5th day from the beginning of therapy (the proportion is 8 times higher than in the placebo group). The use of Riamilovir showed a statistically significant difference in the proportion of patients with normal body temperature by day 3 from the start of treatment, as well as an effect on the severity of clinical symptoms in children with ARVI. Conclusion. The carried out studies demonstrated the high efficacy of using drug Triazavirin® (riamilovir, 100 mg capsules) in the treatment of children aged 6–11 years and 12–17 years with a diagnosis of acute respiratory viral infections. The safety and good tolerability of the treatment have been determined. Thus, Triazavirin® can be recommended for inclusion in the updated clinical recommendations of the Russian Ministry of Health as an effective and safe etiotropic agent for the treatment of respiratory viral infections in school-aged children (6–17 years old). Key words: meta-analysis, riamilovir, children, clinical efficacy, acute respiratory viral infection