A new report published in the journal Communications Medicine suggests Pfizer’s Paxlovid may help some long Covid patients, but which patients might benefit remains unclear. “We documented a case series of 13 individuals with Long COVID who initiated extended courses (greater than 5 days; range: 7.5-30 days) of oral nirmatrelvir/ritonavir outside (n=11) of and within (n=2) the context of an acute SARS-CoV-2 infection. Participants reported on symptoms and health experiences before, during, and after their use of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir. Among those who take an extended course of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir outside of the context of an acute infection, some experience a meaningful reduction in symptoms, although not all benefits persist. Others experience no effect on symptoms. One participant stopped early due to intense stomach pain. For the two participants who took an extended course of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir within the context of an acute reinfection, both report eventually returning to their pre-re-infection baseline. Extended courses of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir may have meaningful benefits for some people with Long COVID but not others. We encourage researchers to study how and why nirmatrelvir/ritonavir benefits some and what course length is most effective, with the goal of informing clinical recommendations for using nirmatrelvir/ritonavir and/or other antivirals as a potential treatment for Long COVID.” The authors went on to say: “Our patient-led study documents the experiences of 13 people with Long COVID who tried extended courses of Paxlovid; some were in the midst of a reinfection and others were not. Some participants reported meaningful benefits, although not all improvements lasted long-term. Others experienced no changes in symptoms. Our results suggest that extended courses of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir could be beneficial for some people with Long COVID.”
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