He will continue to isolate, likely until he can produce at least one negative antigen test. The White House says the president is fully vaccinated and up-to-date on all his recommended boosters. Kevin O’Connor, who reported, “He remains fever-free and in good spirits.” All signs point to the Paxlovid suppressing the antigens to undetectable levels, resulting in temporary negative results, followed by the “rebound.”Īs of Tuesday Biden’s only symptoms were a “loose cough,” according to a memo from his physician, Dr. PCR testing generally is not recommended within 90 days of infection because it frequently remains positive for a prolonged period of time, even after patients recover and are no longer contagious, so Biden was given antigen testing instead. Antigen tests differ from PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests, which look for genetic material that indicates a COVID-19 infection.ĭue to the nature of his position, the president tests routinely. Antigen tests are commonly used in at-home testing and can yield results in 15 minutes by detecting antigens specific to COVID-19. “It’s not unheard of for people to take Paxlovid, clinically improve, be antigen-negative, then ‘rebound’ a few days later as antigen-positive,” Banach says.Īntigens are substances that cause an immune response. David Banach, infectious diseases physician and hospital epidemiologist at UConn Health.īiden’s physician says the president had been taking the antiviral drug Paxlovid, which is a standard treatment for those with COVID-19 who are considered “high-risk,” including older patients. “It’s unlikely this is anything other than the original infection resurfacing,” says Dr.
David Banach is UConn Health’s hospital epidemiologist. It may be a puzzling sequence, but there is an explanation. President Biden is back in isolation, testing positive again for COVID-19 despite testing negative a week after his initial positive test July 21.
If anything, I would say this situation actually reinforces the importance of vaccination.
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