Researchers from the University of California prepared a report on the recurrence of symptoms observed after nirmatrelvir-ritonavir treatment in patients with COVID-19 infection. Nirmatrelvir is a protease inhibitor that prevents viral replication and reduces the severity of COVID-19 infection in unvaccinated and vulnerable patients. Adding ritonavir helps improve the range of therapeutic targets of nirmatrelvir. Here, we discuss two patient cases with rebound symptoms and viral load after nirmatrelvir-ritonavir treatment.
These cases suggest that rebound after nirmatrelvir–ritonavir therapy is not uncommon. In the cases discussed here, there is no evidence of reinfection with a different variant determined from genome sequencing, which does not show any evidence of mutation. Also, higher viral load in the patients suggests that patients are likely to be contagious during the rebound…
