(ANSA) – ROME, AUGUST 25 – The antiviral nirmatrelvir, the active ingredient of the drug Paxlovid, reduces by more than 70% the risk of hospitalization or death from Covid in people over 65. This is the data that emerges from a study conducted in Israel and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Paxlovid is an antiviral that has been shown to significantly reduce the chances of an aggravation of Covid-19 in people at risk. However, the researchers explain, the trials that led to its approval were conducted in a different context from the current one: in “adults without prior immunity against SarsCoV2, obtained through vaccination or infection with SarsCoV2, and when the dominant variant was B .1.617.2 (Delta) “.
The study, coordinated by researchers from Tel Aviv’s Clalit Research Institute, has now considered the drug’s use in 3,902 people infected between January and March 2022, when the dominant variant was Omicron. 78% of patients already had antibodies to the coronavirus because they were vaccinated, previously infected, or both.
The research concluded that in people over 65, taking the drug reduced the risk of hospitalization by 73%, moving hospitalization rates from 58.9 cases per 100,000 per day to 14.7 cases per 100,000. . The risk of death from Covid was reduced by 79%. The advantages for those who were not vaccinated or infected previously were even higher: in this case the reduction in the risk of hospitalization was 85%.
From the analysis it emerges that the administration of the drug does not offer particular benefits to those under the age of 65. In this age group, some advantages are observed in people who previously did not have Covid or have undergone vaccination. (HANDLE).
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