CDC’s Walensky experiences COVID-19 rebound after Paxlovid treatment
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CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, has experienced a rebound of COVID-19 symptoms after being treated with Paxlovid, the agency announced Monday.
Walensky first tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on Oct. 21. She experienced mild symptoms, isolated at home and completed a course of Paxlovid. Although her symptoms faded and she tested negative, on Sunday, she again started experiencing symptoms and tested positive for the virus, the CDC said.
“Consistent with CDC guidelines, she is isolating at home and will participate in her planned meetings virtually,” the agency said in a press release.
COVID-19 relapses after treatment with Paxlovid have occurred in some patients, although recent studies have suggested the relapses are tied more to individual patients than to an effect from the drug.
“It’s unclear how common this effect is,” Amesh A. Adalja, MD, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told Healio after President Joe Biden experienced a COVID-19 relapse after his own Paxlovid treatment. “It was not seen as an issue in the clinical trials but the real-world experience with the drug seems to suggest that this is something that happens with some level of frequency.”
COVID-19 rebounds are not a reinfection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus but rather the same virus that initially caused infection reactivating, according to Adalja and other experts.
The phenomenon has occurred in some patients who have not been treated with Paxlovid, with symptoms fading before getting much worse — similar to the so-called “Paxlovid rebound” — leading researchers to suggest that rebounds have more to do with the nature of the virus itself.
Irini Sereti, MD, MHS, previously told Healio that more research is needed on both the nature of the virus and on whether a longer course of Paxlovid could further suppress the virus and prevent rebounds.
References:
- CDC. Update on CDC director and COVID-19. https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/s1031-covid-19-cdc-director.html. Accessed October 31, 2022.
- CDC. CDC director tests positive for COVID-19. https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/s1022-covid-director.html. Accessed October 31, 2022.
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