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Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, experienced a COVID-19 rebound, a return of mild symptoms, and positive tests after completing Paxlovid antiviral treatment and a negative test, the CDC announced today.
Walensky was first tested on Oct. 21 and developed mild symptoms. He attended a five-day Paxlovid course, recovered and tested negative. But on Sunday, Oct. 30, his mild symptoms returned and he was tested again, the firm reported.
Walensky now joins the ever-growing ranks of other people reporting rebounds after Paxlovid, adding high-profile bounces like President Biden and more sensitive infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci. But, according to a small study published in JAMA Network Open last week, bounces may be strangely common in all cases of COVID-19, even those not treated with Paxlovid.
The study took a closer look at daily symptom data from 158 people not treated with COVID-19, who acted as a placebo organization in a drug trial. They were followed for 28 days after their COVID-19 cases began. During this period, 108 of 158 other people, or 68%, reported a recovery that their symptoms resolved completely for at least two days. Follow-up period of 28 days.
The rebounds were sometimes light. Of the 48 rebounders, 41 reported only mild symptoms of their rebound, seven reported moderate symptoms, and none reported serious outcomes. The maximum symptoms of non-unusual rebound were cough, fatigue and headache.
Overall, the authors, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, concluded that “the herbal history of untreated COVID-19 was variable and undulating,” which “may be part of the uptick in symptoms after COVID-19 treatment, such as in cases of what has been described as Paxlovid rebound. “
The exam had limitations, like everyone else. It did not verify bounces with the effects of immediate testing. This also happened when alpha was the dominant variant of SARS-CoV-2, so it is not transparent whether rebound rates are the same now that the omicron subvariants dominate and other people have higher degrees of immunity to vaccination and past infections.
But it adds more knowledge to a confusing phenomenon. Scientists don’t yet know why bounces occur, who’s at risk, or how common it is. Some have speculated that this may also be due to a rebound in viral replication or a poor immune response. However, some initial knowledge from the National Institutes of Health suggests that the rebounds are likely due to the explosion of immune responses as the framework removes debris from a cancelled infection.
In clinical trials of Paxlovid, Pfizer researchers noticed that about 1-2% of treated and placebo teams had rebounds, suggesting that it is also more likely to happen with or without remedy. But, as the use of Paxlovid has become more common, anecdotal reports of rebounds after treatment have accumulated, giving the impression that the percentage of other affected people is well above 1 or 2%. The new study supports this anecdotal conclusion, but not just for those taking the antiviral.
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