Taking the COVID-19 antiviral Paxlovid doesn’t seem to enhance Lengthy COVID signs in a significant manner, a brand new study finds. These outcomes are a blow to the millions of people living with the condition, which at the moment has no accredited therapy or remedy.
Paxlovid has lengthy been a supply of hope for these with Lengthy COVID. Scientists don’t know exactly what causes Long COVID, however many have hypothesized that viral materials lingers within the physique, doubtlessly inflicting long-lasting signs together with fatigue, the lack to train, mind fog, and extra. Provided that idea, a drug like Paxlovid, which stops the virus from multiplying and reduces the quantity of it within the physique, appeared to many like a promising treatment.
However the brand new examine, which was printed June 7 in JAMA Inner Drugs, discovered that taking Paxlovid for 15 days was secure however didn’t enhance key Lengthy COVID signs higher than a placebo.
“I’d have liked to carry ahead a paper that mentioned, ‘Nice profit,’” says senior writer Dr. Upinder Singh, a professor of infectious ailments at Stanford College. Despite the fact that that wasn’t the end result, Singh says, the examine provides to scientists’ collective understanding of Paxlovid and Lengthy COVID, and doesn’t rule out the opportunity of extra constructive outcomes sooner or later. “Science is generative,” she says. “Knowledge generally adjustments.”
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Singh and her colleagues enrolled 155 adults with Lengthy COVID within the trial. All of them had beforehand examined constructive for COVID-19, lived with Lengthy COVID signs for not less than 90 days, and at the moment skilled not less than two of six main signs: fatigue, mind fog, physique aches, cardiovascular points, shortness of breath, and gastrointestinal points. Most individuals within the examine had been sick for longer than a yr and virtually all had been vaccinated towards COVID-19. Three-quarters of contributors had been white and about 60% had been feminine.
About 100 individuals had been randomly assigned to obtain the total Paxlovid routine, which consists of two drugs: the antiviral nirmatrelvir and ritonavir, which prevents nirmatrelvir from breaking down too rapidly. The remainder of the group took a placebo with ritonavir, which does not work towards the SARS-CoV-2 virus by itself. Ritonavir enhanced the placebo as a result of it is linked to a telltale facet impact of Paxlovid—a nasty aftertaste—so contributors couldn’t essentially guess whether or not they’d gotten the energetic therapy or not.
Each teams took their medicine twice a day for 15 days, 3 times longer than sufferers are at the moment prescribed Paxlovid. Researchers then tracked them for 15 weeks to evaluate security and search for variations in Lengthy COVID signs over time.
On the plus facet, the researchers concluded that it’s typically secure to take Paxlovid for 15 days, though non-life-threatening negative effects like diarrhea and dangerous aftertaste had been widespread. That’s vital to know, as a result of some consultants imagine taking the drug for longer could help prevent outcomes like Paxlovid “rebound.” An extended course might also be simpler for some high-risk sufferers, Singh says.
However “we didn’t discover an apparent profit” to taking Paxlovid for symptom reduction, Singh says. Individuals within the Paxlovid group didn’t fare considerably higher than these taking the placebo.
That mentioned, individuals in each teams noticed enhancements of their symptom severity over the course of the examine. Signs typically get higher over time, Singh says, however contributors might also have had some expectation of feeling higher just because they had been enrolled in a scientific trial. And, regardless of the relative enchancment, reasonable and extreme signs had been nonetheless widespread on the finish of the examine, which underscores the necessity for extra analysis on therapies.
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Whether or not Paxlovid, or one other antiviral drug, finally ends up being a viable therapy stays to be seen. Whereas the outcomes from this examine aren’t encouraging, other teams are also studying Paxlovid’s efficacy as a Lengthy COVID therapy. It’s doable the drug may work higher when taken for an extended size of time, amongst sure teams of Lengthy COVID sufferers, or amongst those that haven’t been sick so long as the contributors within the present examine, Singh says.
One other excellent query: can taking Paxlovid throughout a case of COVID-19 assist stop Lengthy COVID from ever creating? Some knowledge counsel it might, however other studies have discovered that it doesn’t work as a safety measure.
The brand new examine didn’t deal with that chance, and extra analysis is required earlier than anybody ought to take Paxlovid for that reason alone—however, Singh says, sufferers ought to take consolation in the truth that scientists are actively tackling these questions, recognizing the huge unmet want for therapies focused towards Lengthy COVID therapy and prevention.
“Persons are engaged on this,” she says. “Persons are motivated.”
