Pfizer Pill’s Covid Return Pose Rare Case of Questions

As more doctors prescribe Pfizer’s powerful Covid-19 pill, new questions arise about its performance, including why a small number of patients appear to relapse after taking the drug.

Paxlovid has become a reliable choice for Covid-19 due to its convenience at home and the impressive results of avoiding serious illness.The U.S. Government has spent over $ 10 billion to buy enough pills for treatment 20 million people.

But experts say there’s still a lot to learn about medicines, it’s Approved in December For adults at high risk of severe Covid-19 based on studies in which 1,000 adults took the drug.

Why are some patients likely to relapse?

Doctors have begun reporting rare cases of patients with relapsed symptoms days after completing 5-day pill therapy with Paxrovid. It prompted questions about whether those patients were still contagious and should take Paxlovid’s second course.

Last week, the Food and Drug Administration weighted. We advised against the second round as there is little risk of serious illness or hospitalization among patients with relapse.

Dr. Michael Charnes report Last month, a 71-year-old vaccinated patient had his symptoms subsided but then returned, but virus levels soared nine days after the illness.

Charnes says Paxrovid is still a very effective drug, but I suspect it may not be very powerful against the current Omicron mutants. The $ 500 drug treatment was tested and OK based on performance against the delta version of the coronavirus.

“The ability to remove the virus after it has been suppressed can vary from Omicron to Delta, especially for vaccinated people,” said Charnes, who works in the Boston Department of Veterans Affairs medical system.

Are some people susceptible to recurrence? Both the FDA and Pfizer point out that 1% to 2% of people in Pfizer’s first study saw virus levels recover after 10 days. The percentage of people taking drugs and dummy pills was about the same. “Therefore, it is unknown at this time that this is related to drug treatment.” FDA said..

Some experts have pointed out another possibility: the dose of Paxrovid is not strong enough to completely suppress the virus. Andy Pekosz of Johns Hopkins University is worried that it could spur drug-resistant mutations.

“I don’t like losing Paxrovid right now, so I really need to make sure I’m taking Paxrovid properly,” said virologist Pekosi. “This is one of the key tools to help you turn the corner of a pandemic.”

How does Nilmatrelville work in vaccinated people?

Pfizer Tested Paxlovid Highest risk patients: Unvaccinated adults who have not previously been infected with COVID-19 and have no other health problems such as heart disease or diabetes. The drug reduced the risk of hospitalization and death from 7% to 1%.

But that doesn’t reflect the majority of Americans today. There, 89% of adults have at least one shot.And roughly 60% of Americans At some point you are infected with a virus.

“It’s the population I care about in 2022, because that’s what we’re seeing — people vaccinated with COVID — so will they benefit?” A study at the University of Minnesota. I asked Dr. David Boulware, who is also a doctor.

There is still no clear answer for vaccinated Americans who already have hospitalization rates well below 1%.

This may stem from a large, ongoing Pfizer study, including those who have been vaccinated at high risk. The results have not been published. The study is scheduled to end in the fall.

Pfizer said last year that early results showed that Paxrovid failed to meet the study’s goal of significantly resolving symptoms and reducing hospitalization. Recently, we have stopped enrolling people who have been vaccinated or boosted in the last year. Boulware suggests that these patients are not benefiting.

At the very least, preliminary data should be made public to federal authorities, Boulware said. “If the US government spends billions of dollars on this drug, what is its obligation to publish that data so they can develop good policies?”

Can PAXLOVID be used to prevent COVID-19 infections?

Pfizer recently reported that aggressively giving Paxrovid to families of people infected with COVID-19 did not significantly reduce their chances of catching it. But that’s not the end of the story. Pfizer is investigating several other potential benefits of early use, such as whether Paxlovid reduces the length and severity of COVID-19 in the home.

“It’s a high standard to prevent infection, but I’d like to see some data on how Paxrovid worked against serious illnesses,” Pecos said.

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