Even after a mild course of corona, some people continue to suffer from exhaustion and other symptoms for a long time. The drug Paxlovid could prevent many cases, according to a new study.
Fatigue, headaches, memory and concentration problems: these are just a few of the many symptoms of Long Covid. About every tenth person suffers from the long-term effects of a corona infection. The drug Paxlovid could prevent some of these cases, according to a new study. A research team led by epidemiologist Yan Xie examined the effectiveness of the active ingredient nirmatrelvir, which is contained in the corona tablets. So far, these have been administered primarily to prevent severe Covid courses.
In their study, which still needs to be verified by experts, the scientists used health data from the US Department of Veteran Affairs, an agency that looks after the interests of war veterans. They selected those people who tested positive who had at least one risk factor for a serious illness and who were not treated in a clinic at the beginning of the infection. The risk factors included being at least 60 years old, being overweight, heart and circulatory diseases and diabetes mellitus.
Of the 56,000 patients, more than 9,000 people had received the Paxlovid active ingredient nirmatrelvir within five days of the positive test. The remainder had not received any antiviral medication for the first 30 days after their infection. Based on twelve selected symptoms that represent typical long-term symptoms of Covid-19, the data on the health status of both groups was compared after 90 days.
The result: Nirmatrelvir reduced the risk of long Covid by 26 percent. In ten out of twelve examined complaints, the participants who were not treated with nirmatrelvir performed worse – these included shortness of breath, exhaustion or cardiac arrhythmia. People from this group also had a greater risk of dying or being admitted to a clinic during the observation period. The vaccination or recovery status played no role in the effectiveness of the drug.
“Paxlovid reduces the risk of severe Covid-19 infection in the acute phase, and now we have evidence that it can also reduce the risk of Long Covid,” study author Ziyad Al-Aly is quoted as saying in a press release. “This treatment could be an important help in solving the serious problem of Long Covid.”
Christian Karagiannidis, President of the German Society for Internal Intensive Care Medicine and Emergency Medicine (DIVI), described the data on Twitter as very reliable. Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach was also positive: “This new US study shows that the administration of Paxlovid after COVID infection reduces the risk of
However, there are also limitations of the study, which the researchers point out: The patients examined are veterans of the US Army, i.e. primarily men of advanced age. The study cannot answer whether younger people or seniors without known risk factors also benefit from treatment with Paxlovid. In addition, it still needs to be investigated what happens if nirmatrelvir is only administered after the acute phase of the disease, because the time of administration could also have an impact on the effectiveness of the drug.
In Europe, Paxlovid is approved for people aged 18 and over. The prerequisite for receiving the drug is that they have an increased risk of a severe course of the disease, but do not need supplemental oxygen. European health authorities also advise starting treatment as early as possible, no later than five days after the onset of the first symptoms.
