President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 again this Saturday after taking an antigen test, just three days after leaving his isolation, his doctor announced in a letter.
"As outlined last week, recognizing the potential for so-called COVID-19 'rebound' positivity seen in a small percentage of Paxlovid-treated patients, the President increased the number of tests," said Kevin O'Connor, MD. , White House physician.
"After testing negative on Tuesday night, Wednesday morning, Thursday morning and Friday morning, the President tested positive on Saturday morning, using the antigen test. This represents, of in fact, a 'rebound' positivity," he added.
The doctor said he has no symptoms but will self-isolate at the White House.
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Just this Wednesday the president came out of the isolation he had maintained for five days.
That day he held an act at the presidential residence to speak precisely about the situation that the country is experiencing due to the pandemic.
Biden tested positive for coronavirus on July 21 during a routine test and was experiencing a runny nose, cough and sore throat.
He started taking the antiviral Paxlovid, a 5-day course, and his doctor said his symptoms steadily improved during that time.
Biden is fully vaccinated and has received two booster doses due to the risk posed by his age (79 years).
'Rebound Effect' by Paxlovid
When Anthony Fauci, the White House's top anti-pandemic adviser, was infected in June, he also took Paxlovid, an antiviral drug for people with mild to moderate symptoms whose age or immune status puts them at high risk for severe illness.
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The treatment consists of three pills taken twice a day for five days.
Fauci finished treatment and tested negative.
But about three days later she tested positive again, and the symptoms (runny nose, sore throat, fever) returned.
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A small minority of people taking Paxlovid see a
similar
rebound effect .
"When you look at the studies, it usually doesn't happen very often," said Fauci, who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
But he noted that there have been "anecdotal cases" suggesting rebounds are more common now than in clinical trials.
About 1% to 2% of people who took Paxlovid in Pfizer's clinical trial tested positive after testing negative.
Rebound rates are around 5% among the tens of thousands of people who have taken the drug in real-life settings, White House COVID response coordinator Ashish Jha said at a news conference Thursday. last week.
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