4. Discussion
cough, fatigue, fever, pain
VIRUS
This study showed that Paxlovid significantly reduced nucleic acid shedding time, days until negative swab test, and days of first symptoms resolution, as well as improved nucleic acid test negative rate and post-COVID-19 condition of Chinese adult patients who infected with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant compared with standard treatment, suggesting the good clinical efficacy of Paxlovid in treating patients infected with Omicron variant.In this study, some patients who had Paxlovid showed a phenomenon of short-term re-detection of nucleic acid after turning negative. The median time of reappearance of positive result was the same as the treatment course of Paxlovid. Paxlovid mainly works by inhibiting the 3C-like protease of the virus,Data from 267 successfully followed-up cases found that the proportion of post-COVID-19 condition in Omicron variant-infected individuals is significantly lower than the previous observational study results on post-COVID-19 condition.The main clinical symptoms of 320 patients infected with Omicron variant in this study were fever, cough, fatigue, and limb pain, which were also observed in studies on the previous variants.There were also several limitations. First, the study was not randomized. Second, this study was a single-center study with small sample size, especially in the standard treatment group. Third, the participants were young adults, so the results could only be interpreted in this population. Fourth, due to the conditions of designated hospitals, the efficacy of drugs could only be evaluated based on changes in nucleic acid test results and clinical symptoms, lacking relevant laboratory indicators.In conclusion, compared to standard treatment, Paxlovid effectively reduced the nucleic acid shedding time, speeded up the recovery of clinical symptoms, and improved post-COVID-19 condition of Chinese adult patients who infected with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant. Further randomized clinical trial with large sample size is warranted to further validate the results.