Corona: Positive again after a week?
Reason is drug
Created: 08/03/2022, 12:00 p.m
By: Judith Brown
US President Joe Biden tested positive again just a few days after surviving the corona infection.
This is due to the Covid drug Paxlovid.
The American President Joe Biden was also recently caught with the corona virus.
The 79-year-old then went into isolation.
After five days, his test was negative and he was released from isolation.
However, just days after overcoming the infection, he tested positive for the virus again.
He had Corona for the second time within a week.
However, it was not a matter of rapid reinfection or incorrect test results.
The reason for this lies in taking the Covid drug Paxlovid.
Corona infection: positive again after a week?
Reason is Covid drug
Anyone taking the Covid drug Paxlovid could experience a rebound effect and be tested positive again after a short time.
However, only two percent of patients are affected.
(symbol photo) © Cavan Images/IMAGO
After Biden tested positive for the coronavirus for the first time, his doctors prescribed him the Covid drug Paxlovid.
The drug, which is also approved in Germany, must be taken within the first five days after the suspected time of infection and the onset of symptoms.
It must then be taken for a total of five days.
Taking it prevents the coronavirus from multiplying in the body.
The drug has been approved in the USA since December 2021, in Europe only since January 2022. Due to the interactions with many other drugs, doctors in Germany tend to be cautious about prescribing it.
It is particularly recommended for patients without a serious pre-existing condition who are at higher risk of hospitalization.
Older people are therefore mostly affected.
Initially, the drug also worked for the American President.
Then, however, a so-called rebound effect occurred and Biden experienced a kind of corona relapse.
This is a rare phenomenon which, according to a study by the manufacturer Pfizer, occurs in two percent of patients.
According to the CDC, the effect usually occurs after two to eight days after recovery.
Those affected should then go into isolation again for five days.
As several doctors and experts warn, this is not a major medical problem and no special therapy is necessary.
What happens in the body and how does this effect come about?
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Covid drug responsible for rebound effect after corona infection
The virus may not be completely killed by Paxlovid because it does not reach the preparation in all tissues.
This could be one reason why Corona comes back so quickly in a few patients.
After all, it doesn't work like an antibiotic, as the infectiologist Prof. Bernd Salzberger from the University Hospital Regensburg explains to
ntv
.
"By stopping the virus from multiplying, it gives the body time to build up its own immune protection and end the infection more quickly." However, a severe course of corona can be counteracted with a third or fourth vaccination.
Finally, those who have been boosted have significantly shorter symptoms after infection with the currently predominant omicron variant.
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This article only contains general information on the respective health topic and is therefore not intended for self-diagnosis, treatment or medication. In no way does it replace a visit to the doctor. Unfortunately, our editors are not allowed to answer individual questions about clinical pictures.
