Abstract: Infect Chemother. 2020 Sep;52(3):396-402 https://doi.org/10.3947/ic.2020.52.3.396 pISSN 2093-2340·eISSN 2092-6448 Brief Communication Early Hydroxychloroquine Administration for Rapid Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Eradication Kyung Soo Hong Hong Nam Kim , Jong Geol Jang 1, Jian Hur 2, Jong Ho Lee , Wonhwa Lee 5,*, and June Hong Ahn 1,* 1 , 3 4,* Division of Pulmonology and Allergy, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Yeungnam University and Regional Center for Respiratory Diseases, Yeungnam University Medical Center, Daegu, Korea 2 Division of Infection, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Yeungnam University, Yeungnam University Medical Center, Daegu, Korea 3 Department of Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine, Yeungnam University, Yeungnam University Medical Center, Daegu, Korea 4 Center for BioMicrosystems, Brain Science Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul, Korea 5 Aging Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, Korea 1 Received: May 23, 2020 Accepted: Jun 29, 2020 Corresponding Author: Hong Nam Kim, PhD Center for BioMicrosystems, Brain Science Institute Korea Institute of Science and Technology, 5, Hwarang-ro 14 gil, Seongbukgu, Seoul 02792, Korea. Tel: +82-2-958-5617 Fax:+82-2-958-6910 E-mail: hongnam.kim@kist.re.kr Wonhwa Lee, PhD Aging Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, 125 Gwahak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34141, Korea. Tel: +82-42-879-8143 Fax: +82-42-879-8596 E-mail: bywonhwalee@gmail.com ABSTRACT There are no proven therapeutics for Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia outbreak. We observed and analyzed the clinical efficacy of the most used hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) for 30 days. In this study, administration of HCQ <5 days from diagnosis (odds ratio: 0.111, 95% confidence interval: 0.034 - 0.367, P = 0.001) was the only protective factor for prolonging of viral shedding in COVID-19 patients. Early administration of HCQ significantly ameliorates inflammatory cytokine secretion by eradicating COVID-19, at discharge. Our findings suggest that patients confirmed of COVID-19 infection should be administrated HCQ as soon as possible. Keywords: Early; Hydroxychloroquine; Coronavirus disease 2019; Eradication *Hong Nam Kim, Wonhwa Lee, and June Hong Ahn corresponded equally to the work. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia outbreak, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection emerged in Wuhan, China in December 2019, rapidly spread to produce a worldwide pandemic [1]. There are no proven therapeutics for COVID-19, and current toll estimate more than 2.7 million infected people and almost 200 thousand deaths worldwide as of April 24 2020, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Recent studies have reported factors in association with prolonged duration of viral RNA shedding [2, 3]. But so far, no study has demonstrated the effects of antiviral drug administration on the duration of viral shedding and clinical improvement in COVID-19 patients. We investigated the time of antiviral drug administration in COVID-19 patients with factors and inhibitors associated with prolonged viral shedding, clinical improvement and cytokine storm, respectively. Copyright © 2020 by The Korean Society of Infectious Diseases, Korean Society for Antimicrobial Therapy, and The Korean Society for AIDS We..