Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 70 cases of coronavirus disease and concomitant hepatitis B virus infection: A multicentre descriptive study.

The interaction between existing chronic liver diseases caused by hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and COVID‐19 has not been studied. We analysed 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 analyse 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 =.000), higher levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST) and activated partial thromboplastin (APTT) [50(28‐69)vs 21(14‐30), P =.000; 40(25‐54) vs 23(18‐30), P =.000; 34.0(27.2‐38.7) vs 37.2(31.1‐41.4), P =.031]. The utilization rates of Arbidol and immunoglobulin were significantly higher than those in the co‐infected group [48.57% vs. 35.64%, P <.05; 21.43% vs. 8.18%, P <.001], while the utilization rate of chloroquine phosphate was lower (1.43% vs 14.00%, P <.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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]