Abstract
BACKGROUND: As of October 3, 2023, the global COVID-19 case tally exceeded 696 million, with almost 7 million fatalities. Remdesivir, approved for treatment of COVID-19 by regulatory bodies, has seen varying recommendations by the World Health Organization over time. Despite certain studies questioning its efficacy, others highlight potential benefits. The objective of this study was to gauge the impact of remdesivir on clinical outcomes in a Pakistani tertiary care hospital. METHODS: An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted on 108 COVID-19 patients at Mayo Hospital Lahore between September 2020 and August 2021. Of these, 52 received remdesivir. The study employed a structured proforma for data collection, with analyses conducted using SPSS version 26, considering a p-value of less than 0.05 as statistically significant. RESULTS: Demographic distribution between remdesivir-treated and untreated groups was similar. Significant improvement was observed in the remdesivir cohort in terms of oxygen saturation (58%), ferritin levels (58.2%), chest X-ray results (67.8%), and discharge rates (66.7%) when compared to the untreated group. Stratification based on disease severity showed that remdesivir was particularly beneficial for moderate illness cases in several parameters. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that remdesivir can be associated with improved outcomes, especially in patients with moderate COVID-19 severity. The data emphasizes the importance of the disease stage when considering therapeutic interventions and calls for more region-specific research to guide health responses amid diverse epidemiological landscapes.