The following is a summary of “Clinical rebound after treatment with nirmatrelvir/ritonavir in COVID-19,” published in the September 2024 issue of Infectious Diseases by Camp et al.
Nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (NM/r) is a safe and adequate oral antiviral therapeutic for treating mild-to-moderate COVID-19.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to analyze the frequency of COVID-19 rebound, contributing factors, and clinical effects of NM/r treatment in clinical care.
They reviewed electronic medical records from January-June 2022 for the verification of COVID-19 diagnosis, symptoms, and treatment with NM/r and defined disease as clinical rebound, clear improvement in symptoms by repetition in 30 days of a 5-day course of NM/r.
The results showed that 268 adults with a median age of 57 (IQR 47, 68) and 16 patients (6.0%) experienced COVID-19 clinical rebound. The median time to rebound after starting NM/r was 11 days (IQR 9, 13). Patients rebounded were high in proportions (not statistically significant) of the female sex (75% vs. 54.5%), Black race (12.5% vs. 4.9%), presence of at least one co-morbidity (81.3% vs. 67.5%), and no prior SARS-CoV-2 infection (100% vs. 92.9%). Only 1 rebounded patient (6.25%) required hospitalization.
They concluded that the COVID-19 clinical rebound after NM/r treatment was mild, with favorable outcomes, and occurred more frequently than previously reported in real-world clinical settings.
Source: bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12879-024-09842-8
