What Are the Risks of COVID and Treatments Available to President Biden?

The following essay is covered in The Conversation, an online publication.

On July 21, 2022, the U.S. President, Joe Biden, said he had tested positive for carbon dioxide and was experiencing mild symptoms. In a letter to the public, Biden's doctor said that the president had a small nose, fatigue, and occasional dry cough, and that he had begun taking the antiviral drug Paxlovid. Patrick Jackson is an assistant professor of infectious diseases at the University of Virginia.

This is the first thing. What are the risks for Biden?

Age is one of the most important risk factors. You are eight times more likely to be hospitalized and 140 times more likely to die if you get COVID-19 when you're older than 20. People with pre-existing health conditions are more likely to get a severe illness. Biden is said to be in good shape.

It is possible to have immunity from vaccinations or previous episodes of COVID-19. The level of protection from vaccines is likely similar to that of the previous strains, even though researchers only have limited data on the BA.5 variant that is responsible for most recent COVID-19 cases in the U.S. The data shows that prior immunity from vaccines provides strong protection against severe or fatal disease. People who did not have immunity from vaccine or previous infections were more likely to be hospitalized during the first omicron wave in California.

There are two Why is the first line of treatment for Biden so important?

Patients who have recently developed mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms and are at higher risk of severe illness should be given antiviral treatments. The goal of the antivirals is to stop the virus from replicating in the body.

There are four drugs that can be used for the treatment of COVID-19 in the US. The best drug for a patient depends on a number of factors. Paxlovid was found to be highly effective in a clinical trial and is available in pill form.

There are three. What are Paxlovid's strengths and weaknesses?

Some patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 can be treated with Paxlovid. Paxlovid is a mixture of two drugs. One of the drugs that works by disrupting the coronaviruses ability to make functioningProteins is nirmatrelvir. ritonavir is an HIV drug that works by blocking an enzyme in the body that breaks down HIV drugs.

Paxlovid reduced the risk of death and hospitalization when given to patients within five days of their first COVID-19 symptoms. Paxlovid was given to people who didn't have immunity from vaccines or previous infections. Some studies suggest that older patients may still benefit from Paxlovid, despite the fact that the effectiveness of the drug is less clear. Paxlovid has not been found to help patients.

Paxlovid isn't a cure. It can't be used for patients who have a lot of other drugs in their system. Paxlovid can't be taken by some patients because of their other drugs.

A blood thinner is being taken by Biden. Paxlovid has a negative interaction with this drug. Biden may have been told by his doctor to reduce his dose of apixaban or stop it for a short time.

There are four. Biden's health care team will be looking for something.

Biden's doctors will be watching his symptoms and blood oxygen levels. Biden could be hospitalized if his symptoms get worse or if he needs supplemental oxygen.

Some patients have an improvement followed by a regression of their symptoms. It's not clear how often a rebound happens or if it's related to COVID-19 treatment. Rebounds seem to be mild and not associated with hospitalization or death.

It is not yet known how Biden's bout of COVID-19 will be. The U.S. should only need a few days to figure out what kind of fight the president is in.

The conversation published this article. The original article is worth a read.