Public Health Impact of Paxlovid as Treatment for COVID-19, United States
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-5-2024
Publication Title
Emerging Infectious Diseases
DOI
10.3201/eid3002.230835
Abstract
We evaluated the population-level benefits of expanding treatment with the antiviral drug Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir/ritonavir) in the United States for SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant infections. Using a multiscale mathematical model, we found that treating 20% of symptomatic case-patients with Paxlovid over a period of 300 days beginning in January 2022 resulted in life and cost savings. In a low-transmission scenario (effective reproduction number of 1.2), this approach could avert 0.28 million (95% CI 0.03–0.59 million) hospitalizations and save US $56.95 billion (95% CI US $2.62–$122.63 billion). In a higher transmission scenario (effective reproduction number of 3), the benefits increase, potentially preventing 0.85 million (95% CI 0.36–1.38 million) hospitalizations and saving US $170.17 billion (95% CI US $60.49–$286.14 billion). Our findings suggest that timely and widespread use of Paxlovid could be an effective and economical approach to mitigate the effects of COVID-19.
Recommended Citation
Bai, Yuan, Zhanwei Du, Lin Wang, Eric H. Y. Lau, Isaac Fung, Petter Holme, Ben Cowling, Alison Galvani, Robert Krug, Lauren Ancel Meyers.
2024.
"Public Health Impact of Paxlovid as Treatment for COVID-19, United States."
Emerging Infectious Diseases, 30 (2): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
doi: 10.3201/eid3002.230835
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/bee-facpubs/412
Comments
Georgia Southern University faculty member, Isaac Chun-Hai Fung co-authored Public Health Impact of Paxlovid as Treatment for COVID-19, United States.