A Covid patient in the U.k was infected with 10 different strains.
Key Takeaways:
- For 18 months, a Covid-19 patient in the United Kingdom with a very compromised immune system battled the disease.
- According to the Associated Press, his team investigated the evolution of mutations and whether variants evolve in people who have had long-term illnesses.
According to the British publication Metro, a Covid-19 patient in the United Kingdom with a very impaired immune system battled the condition for 18 months. He was infected by 10 different virus variants, including omicron. According to Metro, the patient died 505 days after being diagnosed with the infection in 2020.
The patient's identity has not been revealed.
"It certainly appears to be the longest reported illness (at 505 days)," said Dr. Luke Blagdon Snell of the Guy's and St. Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in London to The Associated Press.
At an infectious disease meeting in Portugal this weekend, Dr. Snell's team plans to present many examples of persistent Covid-19 infections.
According to the Associated Press, his team looked into the evolution of mutations and whether variants evolve in persons who have had very lengthy infections. The study included nine patients whose identities were not divulged. For at least eight weeks, each of them tested positive for Covid-19.
All of these individuals had impaired immune systems due to diseases such as HIV or cancer or had had organ transplants. Infections lasted an average of 73 days, according to tests.
Four of the nine patients passed away. Two of the remaining five people could recover from Covid-19 without the need for treatment, whereas the other two required treatment to combat the virus.
However, the ninth patient remains infected and has been fighting Covid-19 for 412 days.
"With persistent infection, it implies continued, active replication of the virus," Dr. Snell told AP. "In long Covid, it's typically considered the virus has been eliminated from your body, but the symptoms persist."
Dr. Snell also mentioned that some people are more prone to long-term illness and disease.
Although chronic infection is uncommon, experts say that many people with weakened immune systems are still in danger of serious Covid-19 infection and are attempting to keep safe after governments loosened restrictions.