London. April 22 (BUS): Scientists have reported that a British patient with a severely weakened immune system has been infected with COVID-19 for about a year and a half, underscoring the importance of protecting vulnerable people from the coronavirus, the Associated Press (AP) reports.
There is no way to know if the infection with the COVID-19 virus is the longest lasting because not everyone is tested, especially on a regular basis like this case.
Dr Luke Plagdon Snell, an infectious disease expert with the NHS Foundation Trust, Guy’s & St.
The Snell team plans to offer multiple “ongoing” COVID-19 cases at a price Infectious Diseases Meeting in Portugal End of this week.
Their study looked at what mutations arise — and whether variants evolve — in people with very long infections. It included nine patients who tested positive for the virus for at least eight weeks. All had a weakened immune system from organ transplants, HIV, cancer, or treatment for other diseases. None of them were selected for privacy reasons.
Repeated tests showed that their infection lasted for an average of 73 days. Two contracted the virus over a year ago. Previously, the researchers said, the longest known case confirmed by PCR testing lasted 335 days.
“In a prolonged period of Covid infection, it is generally assumed that the virus has cleared from your body but symptoms persist,” Snell said. “With persistent infection, it represents an active, ongoing replication of the virus.”
Each time researchers tested patients, they analyzed the virus’ genetic code to ensure it was the same strain and that people had not contracted COVID-19 more than once. However, genetic sequencing showed that the virus changed over time, mutating as it adapted.
Snell said the mutations were similar to those later seen in widespread variants, although none of the patients generated new mutations that became worrisome variants. There is also no evidence that they spread the virus to others.
The person with the longest known infection was treated in early 2020, treated with the antiviral drug and died sometime in 2021. The researchers declined to say the cause of death and said the person had several other illnesses.
Five patients survived. Two cleared the infection without treatment, two cleared after treatment and one still had COVID-19. At the last follow-up earlier this year, that patient’s infection lasted 412 days.
Researchers hope to develop more treatments to help people with persistent infections beat the virus.
“We need to be aware that there are some people who are more prone to these problems such as persistent infection and severe illness,” Snell said.
Although chronic infections are rare, experts said there are many people with weakened immune systems still at risk of severe COVID-19 who are trying to stay safe after governments lifted restrictions and masks began to go out. It’s not always easy to tell who they are, said Dr. Wesley Long, a pathologist at Houston Methodist in Texas, who was not part of the research.
“Hide crowds is a respectful thing to do and a way we can protect others,” he said.
AOQ