Researchers at Scripps Research and digital health company eMed have reported preliminary findings from an ongoing study of people who order SARS-CoV-2 antigen test kits online.
They found evidence of COVID-19 disappearing and then returning days or weeks later, a phenomenon known as “COVID rebound”, is surprisingly common.
The study is designed to ultimately test 800 patients.
The researchers found that the disappearance and then return of evidence of the virus occurred in 9.3% and 7.0% of patients who opted not to take antiviral treatment and in 14.2% and 18.9% of those who opted for the antiviral Paxlovid.
However, the difference was not strong in this early snapshot of the ongoing study.
COVID-19 rebound was first reported in 2022 and its cause has been unclear, although it has been suggested that it occurs more often in patients treated with Paxlovid.
The study aims to illuminate the rebound phenomenon and any connection to Paxlovid.
The researchers offered Test-to-Treat telehealth kit users participation in the study if they had a verified positive test.
If users consented to participate, the researchers sent them more test kits and asked each participant to take a test and fill out a symptom questionnaire every other day for 16 days.
The team then compared the rates of rebound for those who did and didn’t opt to take Paxlovid.
For the reported analysis, there were 127 people in the Paxlovid-treated group, and 43 in the non-Paxlovid group.
Either way rebounds were measured, the Paxlovid group experienced them at a higher rate: 14.2% vs. 9.3% for antigen test rebounds, and 18.9% vs. 7.0% for symptom rebounds.
With the small participant numbers included in this preliminary analysis, these differences were not strong.
The team says the study is not currently powered to detect statistically significant results and a final analysis should include up to 800 participants.
The preliminary findings already make clear that the rebound rates for both treated and untreated groups are higher than the rates reported in prior studies.
The researchers plan to start sequencing the virus found in participants and testing participants’ blood samples for antibody levels and other immune markers.
They also plan to improve the balance of ethnic and racial representation between the treatment and control groups.
If you care about COVID, please read studies about Vitamin D deficiency linked to severe COVID-19, and low-sodium plant-based diets may prevent COVID-19 better.
For more information about COVID, please see recent studies that new antiviral drug may block COVID-19 transmission, and results showing this existing drug can save damaged lungs in COVID-19.
The study was conducted by Jay A Pandit et al and published in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
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