Paxlovid doesn’t appear to impact Long-COVID symptoms

There appears to be no association between the use nirmatrelvir (Paxlovid) and subsequent Long-COVID symptoms.In addition, people treated with the drug who experienced rebound also showed no change in risk for Long-COVID symptoms, according to findings in a study in the Journal of Medical Virology.“Nirmatrelvir results in faster viral clearance, supporting the hypothesis that nirmatrelvir may prevent Long COVID,” said researchers said. “But whether reducing acute symptoms with antiviral therapy prevents Long COVID has not been demonstrated.” A study was conducted of vaccinated, non-hospitalized adults, and compared the outcomes of patients treated with nirmatrelvir treatment during an acute SARS‐CoV‐2 infection to those who were not treated with the drug.The observational cohort study was part of the Covid Citizen Science (CCS) study, an online cohort study with over 100,000 participants. The cohort studied were vaccinated, non-hospitalized, nonpregnant individuals who reported their first SARS‐CoV‐2 positive test between March through August 2022. Outcomes were ascertained for people who responded to two surveys about Long COVID symptoms conducted in November and December 2022.People treated with molnupiravir, remdesivir and monoclonal antibodies, or who were hospitalized or pregnant were excluded.The primary outcome was defined as at least one patient‐reported Long-COVID symptoms at least 90 days after acute SARS‐CoV‐2 infection. Only people who had been vaccinated before infection were included because 98% of people in the overall cohort were vaccinated. Long-COVID symptoms, symptom rebound, and test‐positivity rebound were asked in the surveys three months after SARS‐CoV‐2 infection. During the study period, 4,684 people reported their first positive SARS‐CoV‐2 test. Of these, 988 (21.1%) were treated with nirmatrelvir, and 3,696 (78.9%) were untreated. Out of this group, 353 (35.7%) of the treated individuals and 1,258 (34.0%) of those who were not treated responded to the Long COVID survey at 5.4 months after acute infection. They had a median age of 55 years, and 66% were female.People who were treated with nirmatrelvir tended to be older, more likely to be male, and had more comorbidities. Among those treated with nirmatrelvir, 57 of 353 (16.1%) reported they experienced Long-COVID symptoms compared to 176 of 1,258 (14.0%) who were not treated with the drug. At an average of 5.4 months after infection, nirmatrelvir treatment was not associated with subsequent Long-COVID symptoms, the study said.

Paxlovid doesn’t appear to impact Long-COVID symptoms

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