by Lisa M. Krieger
Might Paxlovid clear up one of many pandemic’s greatest puzzles? A brand new research at Stanford College goals to search out out.
Within the nation’s first medical trial of an antiviral technique to deal with lengthy COVID, scientists are testing the drug to see if it helps ease the distress of fatigue, mind fog, shortness of breath, physique aches, digestive signs and coronary heart issues.
“You will need to achieve additional understanding whether or not this may very well be efficient remedy,” mentioned principal investigator Dr. Linda Geng, scientific assistant professor at Stanford Drugs and co-director of Stanford’s Publish-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome Clinic.
At present, Paxlovid is simply given instantly after an infection, earlier than the virus beneficial properties a agency foothold within the physique. It’s confirmed to cut back the danger of lengthy COVID, hospitalization and demise.
It has not but been examined in these with continual sickness, months or years after an infection. The Stanford research is recruiting 200 contributors to study whether or not individuals handled with a 15-day routine of Paxlovid really feel higher than these handled with a placebo. Each teams shall be monitored over 4.5 months to see if signs enhance.
So far, no established therapies exist for lengthy COVID, which impacts hundreds of thousands of People.
However some long-haulers have famous that their sicknesses subsided after taking the drug for potential reinfection—inspiring the Stanford staff to take a more in-depth have a look at the remedy, which assaults the virus by inhibiting a key enzyme that it must make new particles.
Final spring, Geng and a staff of Stanford researchers reported {that a} 47-year-old lady’s long-COVID signs, reminiscent of fatigue, cognitive issues and a racing heartbeat—vanished after she took Paxlovid. The affected person was capable of return to work and rigorous train.
Scientists nonetheless do not know precisely what causes lengthy COVID. The seek for therapies has been stymied by the incapacity’s complexity. Signs might come and go, and so they fluctuate extensively.
“After we go to physicians, they by no means know what to do with us. They at all times simply ship us to a different specialist, and undergo an increasing number of checks that by no means present that something is occurring,” mentioned 25-year-old Ibrahim Rashid, who was contaminated two years in the past and is lastly regaining sufficient energy to run and do martial arts. “You spend a lot cash and emotional power getting shuffled by the medical system.”
One idea is that the incapacity is triggered by an overactive immune response to the virus, even after the virus is gone. One other is that the virus stubbornly persists within the physique.
The Stanford research is testing the idea that, at the very least in some instances, lengthy COVID is brought on by lingering virus—and an antiviral remedy may assist get rid of it.
Scientists have detected bits of viral genetic materials within the blood and feces of “lengthy haulers,” suggesting that virus stays hidden in varied tissues of the physique, mentioned Geng.
“Possibly the COVID virus has by some means evaded our immune system, and that is the way it has remained someplace in our physique,” mentioned Geng. “However we do not know that. … We do not totally perceive the place these viral particles are coming from.”
Antiviral medicine are profitable towards different infections, reminiscent of flu, Ebola, HIV, hepatitis and herpes, she famous.
Information of the research was welcomed by sufferers and advocacy teams.
“We’ve been clamoring for Paxlovid to be trialed, and it is about time,” mentioned Diana Berrent Güthe, the founding father of a protracted COVID assist group known as Survivor Corps. “Beginning in winter 2021, we seen many lengthy COVID sufferers experiencing a level of symptom aid after vaccination, indicating there was viral persistence.”
Tens of millions of People are fighting persistent, disabling signs lengthy after their preliminary an infection, and the toll will proceed to climb with every further wave.
And not using a remedy, sufferers strive something which may work, mentioned Rashid, whose months of sickness impressed him to construct an app, known as Sturdy Haulers, that helps individuals with continual sicknesses observe their signs and different well being information.
“They resort to doing various therapies, altering their diets, yoga and meditation. … However some are nonetheless caught in mattress. Way of life adjustments can take you solely to this point. There is no pharmacological approach to boring these signs,” he mentioned.
The Stanford trial represents only the start of what ought to be a broader seek for lengthy COVID therapies, mentioned Güthe.
“We will not conduct this inquiry one therapeutic at a time. We’d like many trials, finding out many automobiles of remedy, run concurrently,” she mentioned. “We are able to stroll and chew gum on the identical time whereas nonetheless staying true to the science.”
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Might these antiviral drugs deal with lengthy COVID? (2022, November 25)
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