Scientists from University of California San Diego found why COVID-19 can rebound after taking oral med Paxlovid.
The research is published in Clinical Infectious Diseases and was conducted by Davey M. Smith et al.
Paxlovid is the leading oral medication for preventing severe cases of COVID-19 in high-risk individuals.
However, symptoms returned in some patients after treatment was completed, prompting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to issue a health advisory on this so-called “COVID-19 rebound.”
In the study, the team evaluated one such patient and found their symptom relapse was not caused by the development of resistance to the drug or impaired immunity against the virus.
Rather, the COVID-19 rebound appears to have been the result of insufficient exposure to the drug.
After a clinical trial showed that Paxlovid could reduce the risk of hospitalization and death from COVID-19 by 89 percent, the drug was made available under an emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in December 2021.
The treatment consists of two drugs—nirmatrelvir and ritonavir—which work together to suppress SARS-CoV-2 by blocking an enzyme that allows the virus to replicate in the body.
It is easier to take at home compared to drugs like Remdesivir, which requires intravenous injection.
Treatment should be initiated within five days of symptom onset and taken twice daily for five consecutive days.
In the study, the team found that after Paxlovid treatment, the virus was still sensitive to the drug and showed no relevant mutations that would reduce the drug’s effectiveness.
They suggest that the rebound of COVID-19 symptoms following the end of Paxlovid treatment is likely due to insufficient drug exposure: not enough of the drug was getting to infected cells to stop all viral replication.
This may be due to the drug being metabolized more quickly in some individuals or that the drug needs to be delivered over a longer treatment duration.
If you care about Covid, please read studies about why some people cannot resist COVID-19 like others, and how COVID-19 pandemic harms blood pressure health.
For more information about Covid, please see recent studies that shark stuff could fight COVID-19 virus, and results showing vitamin D3 could help people fight COVID-19, infections.
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