Rebound Infections Occur in 20% of Paxlovid Users, According to New Research

COVID-19 has become less of an urgent threat than it was in 2019 largely because of vaccines and growing immunity from natural infections, but antiviral treatments have also changed the course of the disease. The most popular of these is nirmatrelvir-ritonavir, sold under the brand name Paxlovid, which the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends for older people and anyone over age 12 who is at higher risk of COVID-19 complications. But people taking the drug have reported incomplete recovery, or testing positive again after testing negative once they finished the five-day course of the oral medication. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] In a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers led by Dr. Mark Siedner, at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, investigated the phenomenon, and report that around 20% of people taking Paxlovid could experience rebound infections. The researchers also cultured the virus from these rebound patients, and confirmed live virus, which suggests that patients are still infectious and therefore can spread the virus to others. Paxlovid rebound has been a highly debated topic in the COVID-19 medical community, since the drug’s maker, Pfizer, reported in its studies submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that it occurred in about 2.3% of people. Since Paxlovid has been on the market, other studies have documented even higher rebound rates, aroun...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 healthscienceclimate Source Type: news