COVID-19 Can ‘Rebound’ After Treatment With Paxlovid, CDC Says

TUESDAY, May 24, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- COVID-19 can make a comeback after an infected person has gone through a round of Paxlovid, the antiviral used to minimize a bout with the coronavirus, according to an advisory issued Tuesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Recent case reports document that some patients with normal immune response who have completed a five-day course of Paxlovid for laboratory-confirmed infection and have recovered can experience recurrent illness two to eight days later, including patients who have been vaccinated and/or boosted," the CDC advisory said.

In these cases of "COVID-19 rebound," the illness improved or resolved within an average of three days, without additional anti-COVID-19 treatment, the CDC said.

A relapse after Paxlovid treatment does not mean the antiviral does not work, the advisory added. "A brief return of symptoms may be part of the natural history of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) infection in some persons, independent of treatment with Paxlovid and regardless of vaccination status," the CDC said.

The agency added that "Paxlovid continues to be recommended for early-stage treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 among persons at high risk for progression to severe disease."

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