A Trial of Lopinavir-Ritonavir in 11 Adults Hospitalized patients with Covid-19 Pneumonia A Case Series Report

ABSTRACT As an emerging disease, COVID-19 has turned itself into a pandemic in no time due to rapid transmission with no effective antiviral agent to combat its growth and replication. However, lopinavir-ritonavir, a protease inhibitor originally designed against HIV, is now a subject nominated to be the potentially efficacious antiviral agent. In this case series, we will report administration results of lopinavir-ritonavir on 11 distinct patients admitted to Udayana University Hospital. Subjects included had a median age of 36 years, four of them also suffer different forms of comorbidities such as hypertension, chronic heart disease, and type 1 or 2 diabetes mellitus. Median duration of treatment were 9 days; and in cases requiring hospitalization the treatment duration was 16 days. Patients also displayed a median of 3 days of viral shedding since initiation of treatment, or around 9 days post-onset of symptoms. These results were in alignment with previous studies regarding administration of lopinavir-ritonavir treatment in COVID-19 patients. While our study does not conclusively prove the effectiveness of lopinavir-ritonavir administration in COVID-19 patients, it also does not disprove its potential. More investigations are needed to find a conclusive answer. Keywords: COVID-19, Pneumonia, Lopinavir-Ritonavir, Efficacy