Published online Jun 6, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i16.4090
Peer-review started: January 22, 2021
First decision: March 25, 2021
Revised: March 28, 2021
Accepted: April 6, 2021
Article in press: April 6, 2021
Published online: June 6, 2021
Processing time: 111 Days and 16.9 Hours
There are no effective antiviral therapies for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) at present. Although most patients with COVID-19 have a mild or moderate course of disease, up to 5%-10% of patients may have a serious and potentially life-threatening condition, indicating an urgent need for effective therapeutic drugs. The therapeutic effect of thymosin on COVID-19 has not been previously studied. In this paper, for the first time we report a case of thymosin treatment of COVID-19.
A 51-year-old man with imported COVID-19 was admitted with definite symptoms of chest tightness, chest pain, and fatigue. The polymerase chain reaction results for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 were negative. The antibody test was positive, confirming the diagnosis of COVID-19. As many orally administered drugs were not well tolerated due to gastrointestinal symptoms, an emergency use of thymosin, a polypeptide consisting of 28 amino acids, was administered by injection. Finally, after the implementation of the treatment program, symptoms and lung imaging improved significantly.
In this case report, it is confirmed that thymosin may help alleviate the severity of COVID-19 symptoms.
Core Tip: A 51-year-old Chinese man returned from Russia to Yueqing Hospital Affiliated to Wenzhou Medical University on April 27, 2020. He had 2-wk symptoms of chest pain, chest tightness, fatigue, and conscious fever. Oxygen inhalation was given and thymosin was injected twice a week, at 1.6 mg per injection. The patient was successfully treated and discharged after 15 d in the hospital.