Washington (AP) – If more doctors prescribe Pfizer’s powerful COVID -19 abs, more questions arise about its effectiveness, including why a small number of patients return after taking the drug.
Paxlovid has become a practical option against COVID-19 because of its comfort at home and impressive results in treating serious diseases. The US government has spent more than $ 10 billion to buy 20 million people therapeutic pills.
But experts say there is still much to learn about the drug that was cleared in December for adults at high risk of severe COVID-19, based on a study in which 1,000 adults to receive medications.
Why do some patients seem to return?
Doctors began to report rare cases of patients whose symptoms recurred within days after completing the five-day regimen of Paxlovid pills. These are questions about whether these patients are contagious and should take a second Paxlovid course.
Last week it was reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration. He recommends a second course because repeat patients have a lower risk of developing a serious illness or being hospitalized.
Dr. reported. Michael Charnes A 71 -year -old patient who was vaccinated last month saw symptoms go away but came back with increased levels of the virus nine days after his illness.
Charnes said Paxlovid remains a very effective drug, but wondered if it would be less potent against the current Omicron variant. The $ 500 drug treatment was tested and good based on its effectiveness against the Delta version of Korovirus.
“The ability to remove a virus after crushing it can vary from Omicron to Delta, especially for people who have been vaccinated,” said Charnes, who works for Boston VA Health.
Are there people who are easy to repeat? The FDA and Pfizer found that 1% to 2% of people in the initial Pfizer study saw virus levels recover after 10 days. The rate is roughly the same for people taking drugs or phantom pills, “so at this point it’s not clear if it’s related to drug addiction.” The FDA says.
Some experts point to another possibility: the dose of paxlovid is not strong enough to completely suppress the virus. Andy Pecos of Johns Hopkins University fears it could lead to drug -resistant mutations.
“We really need to make sure we’re using Paxlovid correctly, because I don’t want to lose it right now,” said Pekos, a virologist. “It’s one of the most important tools we have to help corner a pandemic.”
How well does Paxlovid work in people who have been vaccinated?
Pfizer Paxlovid tested higher-risk patients: unvaccinated adults who had never had a COVID-19 infection and other health problems such as heart disease and diabetes. The drug reduced the risk of hospitalization and death from 7% to 1%.
But that doesn’t reflect the majority of Americans today, where 89 percent of adults have even one chance. And about 60% of Americans. At some point he became infected with the virus.
“This is the population I’m interested in in 2022, because that’s what we’re seeing – vaccinated with the Covid virus – so are they benefiting from it?” He asked Dr. David Boulevard, a researcher and physician at the University of Minnesota.
There is still no clear answer for vaccinated Americans who already have a hospitalization rate of less than 1%.
This may be due to a large ongoing Pfizer study that includes people who have been vaccinated at high risk. Unpublished results; The study is expected to be completed in the fall.
Pfizer said last year that initial results showed that Paxlovid failed to meet research goals of significantly relieving symptoms and reducing hospitalization. It recently stopped registering anyone who received a vaccine or booster last year, a change Boulware says these patients don’t appreciate.
At a minimum, preliminary data should be provided to federal officials, Boulevard said. “If the U.S. government spends billions of dollars on this drug, what is its obligation to publish this data so they can formulate good policy?”
Can Paxlovid be used to prevent COVID-19 infection?
Pfizer recently said that actively giving proxlovid to family members of people infected with COVID-19 does not significantly reduce their chances of contracting the virus. But that’s not the end of the story. Pfizer is studying several other potential benefits of early use, including whether it reduces the duration and severity of Paxlovid COVID-19 in families.
“It’s a high line of protection against infections, but I’d be happy to see data on how Paxlovid responds to a serious illness, because it might be more effective there,” Pekos said.
The Associated Press Department of Health and Science receives support from the Science Education Department of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. AP is solely responsible for all content.
Source: Huffpost
