U.S. to study whether longer Paxlovid course needed to combat reinfections
Reuters
5/18/2022
© Reuters/PFIZER
FILE PHOTO: Pfizer's COVID-19 pill Paxlovid is packaged in Ascoli
By Michael Erman
(Reuters) - The U.S. National Institutes of Health is in talks with Pfizer Inc about studying whether a longer course of the drugmaker's COVID-19 antiviral treatment Paxlovid is needed to prevent reinfections, top U.S. infectious diseases expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Wednesday.
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Sixth hearing adds new dimension to Mark Meadows' role in January 6th insurrection Chris Hayes, Lawrence O'Donnell and an MSNBC panel discuss what Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony at the sixth January 6th hearing suggests about the role of Mark Meadows in Donald Trump's coup plot and the violence at the Capitol.
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Fmr. Pence aide: Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony shows her 'courage' Olivia Troye, a former top aide to Vice President Pence, describes what it was like inside the Jan. 6th Cmte. hearing room to support her former colleague Cassidy Hutchinson, a “loyal public servant,” who she says is now being disparaged by Republicans and will face security concerns for speaking out against Trump. “She’s a patriot,” Troye says, “and I hope the American people understand that.”
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Rep. Schiff: Difficult for DOJ to avoid investigating Trump Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), member of the Jan. 6th Cmte., joins MSNBC's Lawrence O’Donnell to discuss why fmr. Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony “goes right to Donald Trump and his state of mind” leading up to, during and after the attack on the Capitol.
"We're going to be planning what studies we're going to be doing relatively soon, within the next few days" in order to determine whether or not a longer course is needed, Fauci said during a White House COVID-19 briefing.
Rising COVID-19 cases in the United States are driving up use of therapeutics, with more than 660,000 courses of Paxlovid pills administered in the country so far.
Some patients have reported that COVID symptoms recurred after completing the five-day course of treatment and experiencing improvement, but exactly how many have experienced such a rebound is unclear.
In Pfizer's clinical trial, around 2% of recipients who received the two-drug treatment saw an increase in viral load after completing the standard course, compared with around 1.5% of placebo recipients.
White House COVID-19 response coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha said that data was compiled when Delta was the dominant variant of the coronavirus, and it is unclear whether reinfections are more common with Omicron now predominant.
Jha said that reinfections do not seem to hamper Paxlovid's ability to reduce hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19.
Pfizer has suggested that a second five-day course of Paxlovid could treat reinfections. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said there is currently no evidence to support taking a second five-day course or a 10-day course of the pills.
(This story refiles to fix typographical error in third paragraph)
(Reporting by Michael Erman; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
Reuters
