What is the rebound effect of covid whose symptoms reappear after giving a negative test | Health | Magazine

On July 18, 2022, the highest number of daily cases of COVID-19 was recorded in recent weeks; there were 3,126 infections in the country. Covid-19 tends to leave sequels, and yet more and more people get sick again within a few days of having tested negative.

This is known as rebound, which occurs when a person tests positive for COVID-19 or experiences a return of symptoms two to eight days after recovering from the initial infection and testing negative.informs a health alert for doctors published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, for its acronym in English) last May.

In many cases, the rebound occurs in people taking an antiviral medication recommended for people at high risk of progressing to severe COVID-19, ending up in the hospital, or dying from the infection.

How often do COVID-19 patients rebound?

Pfizer’s official clinical trial for its antiviral Paxlovid occurred when the delta variant was predominant in the US That trial reported that less than 2% of people taking the medication (which involves two pills taken twice a day for five days) experienced rebound.

However, doctors who have prescribed Paxlovid in recent months say that figure is likely to be a woeful underestimate.

Is the COVID-19 rebound effect related to antiviral treatment?

Although the rebound rate appears to be higher in those taking antiviral medications, there is not enough data to definitively say that there is a relationship between the two.

In Pfizer’s trial of Paxlovid, patients taking placebos relapsed at rates similar to those taking the drug. The CDC states that a brief return of symptoms “may be part of the natural history” of COVID-19 in some people, whether or not they have received an antiviral. For this reason, the CDC calls the phenomenon rebound of COVID-19 instead of rebound of Paxlovid, the latter more used.

According to Pfizer spokesman Kit Longley, the rebound is not due to the virus becoming resistant to Paxlovid, although he notes that the company is still reviewing the data. (I)

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