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Dec 20, 2023

Nursing homes use surprisingly little COVID antiviral drugs

Above, Pfizer's Paxlovid is displayed on July 07, 2022 in Pembroke Pines, Florida. (Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images) You are free to share this article under the Attribution 4.0 International license.

Above, Pfizer's Paxlovid is displayed on July 07, 2022 in Pembroke Pines, Florida. (Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

You are free to share this article under the Attribution 4.0 International license.

Given the high risk of nursing home resident populations to COVID-19, the use of monoclonal antibodies and oral antiviral drugs is surprisingly low, report researchers.

They examined data compiled by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention National Healthcare Safety Network, focusing on the 19-month period from May 2021 to December 2022, during which there were 763,340 reported resident COVID cases in 15,092 nursing homes in the United States.

Study coauthor Brian McGarry of the University of Rochester Medical Center and collaborators note that all nursing home residents are at high risk for adverse outcomes due to COVID and may benefit from antiviral COVID treatments. However, the use of these drugs in nursing homes was low, a finding the researchers found particularly alarming as almost all nursing home residents meet clinical guidelines to be considered for treatment.

As reported in JAMA, the researchers found that:

Additional coauthors are from Harvard University. The study had funding from the National Institute of Aging.

Source: University of Rochester

Original Study DOI: 10.1001/jama.2023.12945

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