Epidemiological and Clinical Characteristics of 70 Cases of Coronavirus Disease and Concomitant Hepatitis B Virus Infection: A Multicenter Descriptive Study.

The interaction between existing chronic liver diseases caused by Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and COVID-19 has not been studied. We analyzed 70 COVID-19 cases combined with HBV infection (CHI) to determine the epidemiological, clinical characteristics, treatment and outcome.We investigated clinical presentation, imaging and laboratory parameters of COVID-19 patients of seven hospitals from Jan 20 to March 20, 2020. Multivariate analysis was used to analyze risk factors for progression of patients with COVID-19 combined with HBV infection. Compared with COVID-19 without HBV infection (WHI) group, patients with dual infection had a higher proportion of severe / critically ill disease (32.86% vs. 15.27%, P = 0.000), higher levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST) and activated partial thromboplastin (APTT) [50(28-69)vs 21(14-30), P = 0.000; 40(25-54) vs 23(18-30), P = 0.000; 34.0(27.2-38.7) vs 37.2(31.1-41.4), P = 0.031]. The utilization rates of Arbidol and immunoglobulin were significantly higher than those in the co-infected group [48.57% vs. 35.64%, P < 0.05; 21.43% vs. 8.18%, P < 0.001], while the utilization rate of chloroquine phosphate was lower (1.43% vs 14.00%, P < 0.05) in the co-infected patients group. Age and c-reactive protein (CRP) level were independent risk factors for recovery of patients with COVID-19 combined with HBV infection.The original characteristics of COVID-19 cases combined with HBV infection were higher rate of liver injury, coagulation disorders, severe/critical tendency, and increased susceptibility. The elderly and patients with higher level of CRP were more likely to experience a severe outcome of COVID-19.