Reports of “Paxlovid rebound” popped up in the spring of 2022, as some people who had taken the antiviral medication experienced a recurrence of Covid symptoms, days after their infection appeared to have cleared up. But that rebound effect isn’t limited to people who have taken Paxlovid: a study this past fall found that symptoms can flare up again even in people who did not take the antiviral medication.
Those who have taken Paxlovid and are concerned about a potential rebound should watch out for returning symptoms in the week or so after they test negative. But “people should not be swabbing themselves like there’s no tomorrow if they’re feeling better,” said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco.
Only a small fraction of people who take Paxlovid report a rebound, said Dr. Steven Gordon, an infectious disease specialist at the Cleveland Clinic; a study published in June found that of 13,644 adult coronavirus patients who took Paxlovid or another treatment, Molnupiravir, about 5 percent tested positive again within 30 days and 6 percent experienced symptoms again. And Paxlovid rebound is more likely in people who are older or have compromised immune systems, said Dr. Kelly Gebo, an infectious disease specialist at Northwestern Medicine.
Those who do experience a recurrence of symptoms typically do so within a few days or a week, said Dr. Gebo. If you feel a sore throat or runny nose coming back, you may want to take a rapid antigen test, she advised. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that anyone who experiences a rebound, whether or not they have taken Paxlovid, should isolate from others.
