In a recent large-scale study, Pfizer’s Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir and ritonavir tablets) appeared to be far more effective at reducing deaths and hospitalizations in older adults than younger patients stricken with the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
Tag Archive for: COVID-19 rebound
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has asked Pfizer Inc. to test the effects of an additional course of its antiviral Paxlovid among people who experience a rebound in COVID-19 after treatment, the regulator said on Friday.
Researchers at Case Western University looked at the real-world experiences of 13,644 patients who were treated with Paxlovid or Lagevrio (molnupiravir) during the first half of 2022. The study was intended to determine the prevalence of three types of rebound outcomes with these two therapies, each of which has emergency use authorizations as treatments for COVID-19. In that study (currently in preprint on medRxiv, co-author Pamela Davis, M.D. and colleagues found that the 7-day and 30-day rebound rates associated with Paxlovid treatments, respectively, were 3.53% and 5.4% for COVID-19 reinfection; 2.31% and 5.87% for COVID-19 symptoms; and 0.44% and 0.77% for hospitalizations.
Use of Pfizer Inc.’s COVID-19 antiviral Paxlovid spiked this week, but some doctors are reconsidering the pills for lower-risk patients after a U.S. public health agency warned that symptoms can recur after people complete a course of the drug, and that they should then isolate a second time.
