Effectiveness of Favipiravir prior to Admission to the Intensive Care Unit in COVID-19 Pneumonia

After emerging in Wuhan city in December 2019, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) rapidly spread throughout China Although high rates of hospitalization are seen with COVID-19, no specific treatment has been reported, and the choice of antiviral therapies is limited Favipiravir, approved in Japan for influenza, is one of the drugs that targets RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP) It significantly decreases the duration of fever, cough dyspnea, and the need of oxygen therapy or noninvasive mechanical ventilation, especially in moderate COVID-19 cases In the current paper we presented four cases with worsening clinical conditions and the development of hypoxia who were treated with Favipiravir before being admitted to the intensive care unit, and who recovered from the disease