Two long COVID Patients Recover After Pfizer's Therapy; Side Effects, Safety Needs To Be Assessed: Reuters

Reuters reported that two patients found relief from long COVID after taking Pfizer Inc's PFE antiviral Paxlovid, including a researcher who tested it on herself.
Long COVID is estimated to affect up to 30% of people infected with the coronavirus. It can last for months.
More than 200 symptoms have been associated with the condition, including pain, fatigue, brain fog, breathing difficulty, and exhaustion.
"This provides really strong evidence that we need to be studying antiviral therapy in this context as soon as possible," said Steven Deeks, a professor of medicine at the University of California.
Also See: Drugmakers, Scientists Working For Long COVID Treatments.
Scientists caution that these cases are "hypothesis-generating only" and not proof that the drug caused relief of lingering symptoms.
The best evidence comes from a National Institutes of Health (NIH) study, currently under peer review. Researchers conducted autopsies on 44 people who died of COVID-19 or another cause but were infected with COVID.
They found widespread infection throughout the body, including in the brain, that can last more than seven months beyond the onset of symptoms.
Pfizer spokesman Kit Longley said the company does not have any long COVID studies underway and did not comment on whether it would consider them.
Read Next: Pfizer's COVID-19 Oral Therapy To Be Tested In Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients In UK.
The drug giant has two large clinical trials testing whether Paxlovid can prevent initial COVID infection. That "may provide us with relevant data to help inform future studies," Longley said.
Price Action: PFE shares are down 2.60% at $51.74 during the market session on the last check Monday.
Photo by Diamond Rehab Thailand via Pixaby

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