What is Paxlovit, an anti-Covid-19 treatment?

(CNN) — After doctors determined Thursday that President Biden had Covid-19, the White House doctor prescribed the antiviral Boxlovite.

It was considered a game changer when it was licensed in December due to its strong performance in reducing the risk of severe Covid-19. serious illness

Because of these developments, Biden’s experience with the coronavirus should be very different from that of President Donald Trump, who spent several days in the hospital. In October 2020.

What is Boxlovit?

Baxlovit is an antiviral drug from Pfizer that uses two drugs: nirmathrelvir and ritonavir. It comes in pill form.

US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Approved Paxlovid For emergency use in people 12 years of age and older who weigh at least 39 kilograms (88 pounds) and have mild to moderate COVID-19 but are at risk of severe disease.

The standard regimen is three tablets twice a day for five days.

Biden’s risk of serious illness

Biden’s age, 79, puts him at serious risk of Covid-19. But the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that if older adults are fully vaccinated and encouraged, the risks of hospitalization and death are significantly reduced.

Biden has a double reinforcement. He received his initial series of vaccinations ahead of his inauguration in January 2021. He received his first booster in September and second booster on March 30.

Biden’s symptoms are mild. He has a runny nose, occasional cough, and some fatigue.

The President’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, said in a letter Biden’s temperature on Friday was 37.4 °C (99.4 °F) on Thursday night. He took Tylenol and since then his temperature has been normal.

O’Connor temporarily weaned Biden off Crestor and Eliquis because boxlowite can interact with other drugs. Doctors say there is no short-term risk from stopping these drugs.

How does Paxlovid work?

Boxlovit suppresses the coronavirus by blocking an enzyme that helps the virus reproduce inside the body.

As with all antiviral drugs, treatment is thought to work best if people start taking it within five days of the first symptoms.

How successful is it?

Clinical trials of Paxlovid showed that when administered within five days of symptom onset, it reduced the risk of hospitalization and death by 88%.

However, the drug was tested in people who were not vaccinated during the outbreak of the delta variant, so the results may be different for those now taking pills with the omicron-dominant variant.

Pfizer says the drug works well against Omicron, and additional laboratory studies have shown similar results.

“Joe Biden was vaccinated and boosted twice, which greatly reduced his risk of serious illness, hospitalization or death,” Dr. Megan Raney, an emergency physician and academic chair of public health at Brown University, said Thursday. “You add Paxlovid, which — even in vaccinated people — reduces the risk of hospitalization by 80% to 90%, and the chance of something bad happening to him is practically zero.”

What about side effects?

Paxlovit side effects are considered mild and include diarrhea, increased blood pressure, muscle aches, stomach pain, nausea, and altered sense of taste.

Allergic reactions They include hives, difficulty swallowing or breathing, swelling of the mouth, tightness in the throat, hoarseness and rash. Liver problems are also possible.

Doctors say the drug is generally well tolerated.

How about rebirth?

“There are people who have relapsed from poxvirus. That is, despite suppression of poxvirus [los síntomas] For a limited period of time, some people experience some of their symptoms reoccurring after five days of taking it. So we need to monitor that,” Dr. William Schaffner, a professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said Thursday.

In May, CDC issued a health advisory To inform doctors of the possibility of a recurrence of Covid-19 with paxlovit, but the company continues to recommend its use.

Cases of relapse have been reported two to eight days after initial recovery. Most people with new symptoms report recovery in about three days, even without additional treatment.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said when he contracted Covid-19, he took a five-day course of paxlovit and felt better, but relapsed with worsening symptoms. He took medicine again and recovered.

Ranney and other doctors say they don’t want to think of it as a recurring infection. In contrast, paxlovit does a good job of suppressing the virus and preventing potential damage, but the virus may reemerge without being completely cleared from the body.

Some scientists believe that Paxlovid metabolizes faster than others and may require longer treatment. The investigation is still ongoing.

“We don’t see people who end up with symptoms requiring hospitalization after taking paxlovide, so I don’t like the term ‘relapse’ because it scares people away from stopping paxlovide,” Raney said.

The CDC says it does not believe the return of symptoms is a sign of reinfection or the development of resistance to paxlovide. The number of recoveries is nominal, preliminary research shows.

Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House’s co-ordinator of the Covid-19 response, downplayed concerns that Biden might relapse while taking Boxlovit.

“The best clinical data we have suggests it happens in 5% to 7%,” Jha said Friday. “It’s very rare, and the good news is that when it does happen, people are fine.”