Understanding COVID-19 medication rebound concerns

A couple of medications, Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir (Paxlovid) and Molnupiravir, are recommended for treating mild-to-moderate COVID-19. They have been helpful in reducing hospitalisations and deaths. However, there has been a hesitation in using these drugs, partly because some folks worry they might cause COVID-19 symptoms to come back after recovery.

The CDC recently looked at this concern. They studied data from several research projects comparing people who used these drugs to those who did not to see if there was any link between the medications and a return of symptoms or a positive COVID-19 test after getting better. They also checked two trials where one group got the treatment and the other did not.

The findings were reassuring. They did not find strong evidence that these medications caused the return of symptoms or a positive COVID-19 test after recovery. When a return of symptoms did happen, it tended to affect people who were already dealing with other health issues or whose immune systems were not working as well. Importantly, this rebound was not connected to higher chances of ending up in the hospital or facing a higher risk of dying.