An illustration shows vials of a COVID-19 vaccine and syringes with the logos of US pharmaceutical company Pfizer and German partner BioNTech. Photo: AFP
Use of Pfizer Inc’s COVID-19 antiviral Paxlovid spiked this week, but some doctors are reconsidering the pills for lower-risk patients after a US public health agency warned that symptoms can recur after people complete a course of the drug, and that they should then isolate a second time.
More quarantine time “is not a crowd-pleaser,” Dr Sandra Kemmerly, an infectious disease specialist at Ochsner Health in New Orleans, told Reuters.
Use of Pfizer’s Paxlovid, authorized to treat newly infected, at-risk people in order to prevent severe illness, has soared as infections have risen. More than 162,000 courses were dispensed last week – compared with an average of 33,000 a week since the drug was launched late in 2021, according to government data. Biden administration officials have pushed for wide use of Paxlovid, which the government purchased and provides free.
But higher use has also come with more reports from people who say their symptoms eased with Paxlovid only to return a few days after finishing a five-day regimen of the pills.
On Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, citing case reports and concerns that relapsed patients could spread the virus, issued its advisory that Paxlovid users should isolate for a second five days if symptoms rebound.
“I am shying away from giving it to people who are very low-risk, and are not terribly ill, particularly people who are vaccinated and boosted,” said Dr Bruce Farber, chief of public health and epidemiology for Northwell Health. He said he is still recommending Paxlovid for people who have significant health conditions or are over age 75.
Reuters
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