To Avoid Paxlovid Rebound, Some Experts Call for Longer Courses of Treatment

Prescriptions for the antiviral drug Paxlovid have soared since the medication was granted emergency use authorization last December. High-profile people who recently tested positive—including President Joe Biden, White House medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci, and late night host Stephen Colbert—have also taken the drug. But some people—including those three famous patients—have reported rebound infections after taking the pills. Paxlovid rebound occurs when a person takes the drug for a few days, tests negative, and then tests positive again several days later. The growing number of cases is prompting questions about whether people should be taking Paxlovid for longer periods of time to avoid rebound infections. Here’s what virologists and the latest studies say. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] How common is Paxlovid rebound? Researchers have established that people who test positive after finishing a five-day course of Paxlovid are not contracting a new infection. Genetic studies show that the virus that comes back soon after a person stops treatment is the same one that caused the initial infection. But it’s not yet clear how frequent rebound infections are. In the original studies submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency use authorization, Paxlovid’s drugmaker Pfizer found that rebounds happened in 1-2% of patients—the same rate as in the placebo group. Dr. David Ho, professor of me...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 healthscienceclimate Source Type: news