A COVID-19 patient in the UK tested positive for 16 consecutive months until his death. So far, this is the longest known case of coronavirus infection, according to a study on the evolution of the virus in immunosuppressed patients released on Friday.
The patient, whose identity was not released, first tested positive in mid-2020 and had respiratory problems. He continued to test positive for all tests (about 45) until his death 505 days later, Dr. Gaia Nebbia, co-author of the study, explained to AFP.
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It is the longest known case of covid-19 infection, according to a statement from the European Congress of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, which is being held in Lisbon from April 23 to 26 and where the full study will be presented.
The research, carried out by researchers at King’s College London and Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital in London, analyzed nine immunosuppressed patients with persistent virus infection between March 2020 and December 2021. All tested positive for at least eight weeks and two tested positive for more than a year. Of the nine patients, four died and four were cured. A ninth patient was still infected in early 2022, 412 days after first testing positive.
“Immunocompromised patients with persistent infection have little chance of survival, and new treatment strategies are urgently needed to stop their infection,” Nebbia explained.
The study aimed to investigate the mutations of the coronavirus in patients who had a persistent infection for several months. “We wanted to characterize viral evolution in these individuals who could accumulate mutations during their persistent infection. This is one of the hypotheses of the appearance of variants“says the doctor.
According to estimates from the British Office for National Statistics (ONS) published on Friday, 38.5 million people had covid-19 in England between the end of April 2020 and mid-February 2022, that is, 70% of the population.
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