Researchers from the Netherlands have reported an extremely long Covid-19 infection in a man who died last year and warn of the emergence of more dangerous variants of the coronavirus. <\/p>\n
The elderly man, who was immunocompromised due to previous illnesses, was admitted to a hospital in Amsterdam in February 2022 with a Covid-19 infection, according to a statement. <\/p>\n
He was continuously positive for the coronavirus until his death in October 2023 for a total of 613 days. <\/p>\n
Other cases of very long infections in people whose immune systems were unable to adequately fight the virus have previously been reported. <\/p>\n
01:29 <\/p>\n
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The researchers led by Magda Vergouwe from the University of Amsterdam plan to present the results at a congress of the European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Barcelona on April 27-30. <\/p>\n
The case is also interesting for researchers because the coronavirus can change particularly strongly in such long-term infected people. This harbours the risk of variants of the virus emerging that can more easily overcome the immune systems of healthy people. <\/p>\n
The researchers in the Netherlands repeatedly took samples from the man to analyse the genetic material of the coronavirus. They found a total of more than 50 mutations compared to the Omicron variant BA.1 that was circulating at the time, including those that would allow the virus to evade the immune defence. <\/p>\n
Just 21 days after the man had received a certain anti-coronavirus drug, the virus also developed signs of resistance to it. <\/p>\n
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The man eventually died from a flare-up of one of his previous illnesses. As far as is known, he had not infected anyone with his mutated version of the coronavirus, also known under its scientific name Sars-CoV-2. <\/p>\n
This case highlights the risk of new immune-evasive Sars-CoV-2 variants emerging in immunocompromised patients, the researchers are quoted as saying in the press release. <\/p>\n
The extensive development of the virus in a single patient could lead to the emergence of unique variants, they warn. <\/p>\n
It is important to closely monitor the evolution of the coronavirus in immunocompromised individuals. There is a risk that variants could emerge and spread in society that are less susceptible to the immune systems of healthy people, they added <\/p>\n
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Man had rare Covid infection that lasted 613 days, showed extensive mutations - South China Morning Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Researchers from the Netherlands have reported an extremely long Covid-19 infection in a man who died last year and warn of the emergence of more dangerous variants of the coronavirus. The elderly man, who was immunocompromised due to previous illnesses, was admitted to a hospital in Amsterdam in February 2022 with a Covid-19 infection, according to a statement. Continue reading