A pharmacist checks boxes containing Paxlovid, COVID-19 treatment pills developed by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc., at a drugstore in Daegu on Jan. 14, 2022. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Feb. 22 (Korea Bizwire) — 8 out of 10 patients who took Paxlovid, a pill against COVID-19 developed by Pfizer Inc., showed improvements in their symptoms, health authorities said Monday.
The Central Disease Control Headquarters unveiled the analytical results of the treatment of 364 virus patients who took Paxlovid.
Of the total, 352 patients took the drug for five days, and there were no cases in which symptoms became worse or led to death.
The remaining 12 stopped taking Paxlovid due to side effects such as continued fever, change in taste, muscular pain or tachycardia.
Among the 301 patients who took the pill completely, 81.1 percent said that their symptoms such as coughing and sore throat improved.
Another 81.5 percent said that their symptoms started improving from the third day after taking the medicine, while 73.8 percent of those who took Paxlovid completely said they experienced a change in taste, with a shift towards bitter tastes.
More than three-quarters of those who felt a change in taste, however, said that this symptom disappeared within three days after stopping taking the medicine.
At 89.4 percent, the vast majority of those who completed taking the medicine replied that they would recommend other patients to take Paxlovid.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
