Research shows Paxlovid effective for COVID-19 patients with kidney damage
Shanghai's Renji Hospital released a series of research on the early identification of high-risk people with acute kidney damage and COVID-19 infection that shows high-quality evidence to confirm that the anti-COVID-19 drug Paxlovid can improve treatment effects for patients if taken early.
Articles on the effects of Paxlovid for patients with both COVID-19 infection and kidney damage have been published by multiple medical journals.
Previous researches testified that Paxlovid could reduce the risk of hospitalization and death for people with COVID-19 infection, but its effects and safety on people with both COVID-19 infection and kidney damage was not clear. Doctors from Renji Hospital began relevant studies.
Dr Mou Shan's team studied hospitalized COVID-19 patients and found that those with acute kidney infections had a lower risk of lung infection and a shorter hospitalization duration after taking Paxlovid.
Those with serious acute kidney infections had a lower risk of developing into a condition requiring dialysis after taking Paxlovid. Moreover, patients' viral loads dropped more quickly if taking Paxlovid in different stages of kidney damage.
Doctors also carried out studies among patients with chronic kidney disease and COVID-19 infection. These patients usually have a high viral load and respond poorly to treatment. If taking Paxlovid within five days of diagnosis, their need of respiratory machines, hospitalization of ICU, and even mortality rate all dropped significantly, so taking Paxlovid could be considered an independent factor affecting such patients' mortality, doctors said.
Through laboratory research, experts found T helper cells (Th cells), a type of T cell that play an important role in the immune system, had the closest relationship with patients' prognosis. The counts of Th cells could be used as a forecast factor to identify high-risk patients at an early stage.
Dr Gu Leyi and Mou's team also conducted detailed research on patients with both COVID-19 infection and serious kidney damage, including those needing dialysis, and found the use of Paxlovid also brought benefits to such patients, whose viral loads could drop quickly.
The research covered the whole range of kidney patients, including acute kidney damage, chronic kidney disease, and dialysis, supporting the theory that using Paxlovid for patients with both COVID-19 infection and kidney damage could improve patients' treatment effects. It offers new evidence for the use of Paxlovid for kidney patients.
